Proximity Perspective & Power

What difference does walking in light make?

Story - 1999 I worked for a company called PDM Pitt-Des-Moines. We built those humongous elevated Water towers you see around town. During my time with my crew we worked on many different projects. I remember rolling into one job site in Georgia where we were building a large tank inside of a future refinery. the walls of the structure weren’t even up yet, the ground around us was red Georgia clay. we were in the earliest stage of development on the project and it was our job to build the elevated water storage units that would be used for the facility. I was young, new to the crew and very eager to prove my own value to the team.

The foreman, W.C. , of the crew was an older-weather worn, Louisiana native, a tobacco chewing, Santa Clause looking figure, who I think may have been building steel tanks so long he may have had steel and rust in stead of bones and blood. don’t get me wrong, he was a great boss to his crew but he did not waste words or waste his time on things that didn’t bring the crew closer to the finished product.

On one 95 degree Georgia day closer to the end of the project I found myself faced with a tough assignment.

I honestly didn’t know how tough it would be or what I would end up learning from it when it was given to me.

toward the end of every job it would be my job as the newest member of the crew to Grind all the fixtures and tools off the tank where they had been. (quick explain). it was everything dirty and loud and painful about being on the crew rolled up into one day but on this one day it went to another level for me.

I’m going to get just a little technical for the sake of context....inside of those giant water tanks there is an emergency relief system to help in case of overfilling. basically there is a steel box inside of a steel tank with a shallow lip at the top edge so that if the water fills to the top of the tank it will then pour into the box and then out of the relief drain. It works very similar to the relief drain in your bathtub at home. the important thing to know for this story is that the steel box inside the steel tank was only about 5 feet wide and 4 feet tall and due to the nature of the drain holes and the project layout there was no way for natural light to get inside. and it was my job to get my little self into the box and grind all the leftover hardware that was welded onto the inside of the box.

I put on my green flame resistant jacket

my leather sleeves and apron

my 5 point harness

picked up my 15 pound air grinder

face shield/hard hat, respirator, gloves and glasses

and began the never fast enough for WC trek up to the innermost, darkest-most inside corner of the tank. To hit the grind, literally.

heat - climb - sweat - lost about 40lbs in the first 2 months.

TENSION & LIGHT have an interesting relationship - Knowledge and understanding are not the same. I can hear and know what I am supposed to do but to have what I am supposed to be and do illuminated to me is an entirely different thing. and then theres layers of illumination too right....maybe I can say a certain level of brightness that I experience at different points of life that I may not of been able to bear up under during other seasons of my life. I THIINK, HOW WE GROW HAS A LOT TO DO WITH OUR RESPONSE TO THE LIGHT.

I think theres also layers of darkness and depths of ignorance that we churn ourselves into or out from as we put ourselves in proximity to light and truth.

Ok, so I have all my gear on and I’m headed up the lengthy ladder, I get to the topmost last remaining interior scaffolding, ducking under beams every ten or so steps I finally make it around to the Box. I pull myself through the super-slim gap at the top edge of the box and I begin my work, battery powered worklight at my feet I can barely see the targets of my grinder but I get to work.

about 5 minutes into the job I realize my worklight is dimming and probably won’t last much longer.

I pick up my pace....

the light goes out...

I’m so sweaty and so uncomfortable I think, It would be worse to leave, get light, and have to come back than to just try and finish by feel in the dark....but I underestimated the power and strength of the situation on my mind.

have you ever done that? made a decision to stay in the dark because you just assume you’ll be fine. Only to find yourself quickly regretting the decision or the circumstances....Or maybe you’ve found yourself in a dark place not because of your own decision but because of someone else’s and you’ve thought, “I’ve got what it takes to get out of this”.

I’m strong. I’ve been through worse. It won’t last too long, I’ll be fine.

maybe a difficult relationship situation with a family member, a son, daughter, a friend, your spouse.

Maybe a work situation that you knew you were in over your head but figured, I’ll just fake it til I make it. big project, big deadline looming, big numbers need to be hit and all the while the light seems to be getting dimmer and dimmer you’re thinking “I got this” just get up earlier and hit the grind, I have everything I need to fix this.

All the while, in the back of your mind this question haunts you..... “What if I don’t have what it takes?”

So my light is out, I’m feeling the inside walls of the box and I’m using my grinder to make short work when a thought struck me.

What if I can’t get out.

The question started like words on the far distance of my headspace but with every heart beat got louder, and louder and louder

what if they all leave, what if they forget your in here, what if you’re larger now than you were when you first crawled in...

some rational some irrational mostly irrational but all of which caused my blood to pump faster, my heart to pound like a locomotive and my mind to race.....all in the dark all by myself.

I’m not sure if I ever finished the whole grinding job inside of that box but all the sudden I exploded in full on panic. I got out of that box and almost ran across the scaffolding, climbed down the 120 feet of steel ladder and throwing off all my safety equippment I begin screaming I CAN’T...... BREATH, I CAN’T...... THINK, I AM ..... DONE and a lot of other insane things that didnt really make any sense. I was in such a whirl of panic the other crewmembers stopped and came around me to see what had happened. they thought i had gotten injured or hurt....still unable to gather my thoughts and slow my breathing with more and more crew members circling around I heard one LOUISIANAN voice saying hey hey now, back up boo boo back up, listen to me now, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

It wasn’t supernatural, it wasn’t profound, it wasn’t even from the latest podcast on how to deal with anxiety among your crew-members… It was his proximity and perspective that gave power to his words. and they brought calm to the emotional storm in my heart and head.

Don’t miss this....It was his proximity and perspective that gave power to his words.

His physical presence reminded me of the truth - “I made it out”. His perspective of the situation illuminated my own self-deception....the invisibility of my self induced panic - was made known by his question. By asking the question, “What is the problem?” he helped me realize there wasn’t one.

proximity and perspective can make all the difference in the world

There

There is another leader who did this with incredible affect and I believe changed the world as we know it.

Jesus.

- Jesus reveals that his proximity to the problem and the perspective of the woman are critically powerful to heal brokeness.

(ESV)

45 And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Jesus in my own paraphrase says - When His proximity, intersected with her faithful perspective, His power was revealed.

Perspective is important:

Remember Majuba Story

(can we get a picture of Majuba here)

My hope today is that you would choose to live in proximity to God the Spirit, with a faithful perspective that powerfully illuminates your darkest moments.

Jesus’ ressurection and sending of the Holy Spirit have made it possible for us to be in proximity to HIm no matter where we are or who we are with or what we are doing.

How about we take a moment to personally respond to these truths by being honest about our own perspective.

right now, I want you to tell God your perspective of your situation......

imagine He is asking the question…What’s the problem?

Here is your chance to speak to him the things that are going on that have you in a panic or that might have you in a panic soon if nothing changes.

PAUSE

Now, if you’re willing....Would you take the perspective of the woman and trust that He is the one, the only one who can truly heal that?

I want to give you a moment to respond personally.....

CLosing...

How to do this...

Next Steps