The brace position for Christians

So the first week of September is just what I thought it was going to be. September will never take me by surprise. I will never begin the month with an expectation of calm transition from holidays to work. It’s a bumpy ride.

Brace, brace, brace!!!

We’re feeling the impact of early mornings with a new school routine involving buses, loaded schoolbags, traffic jams and diversions. New timetables, homeworks, and the dreaded backing of books.

First week nerves, mishaps and mistakes all make for family tension. Throw in extra late nights at work, meetings at church or school, music lessons, social get-togethers, Bible studies and we’re going to have four tired people by Sunday and a week will have flown by.

One Sunday to the next Sunday.

And I suddenly realise that it was on Sunday that we assumed the brace position.

We went to church and the pilot made us ready for impact.

Monday’s coming, September’s imminent!

He called, ‘Brace, brace, brace!’

And his cabin crew called, ‘Brace, brace, brace!’

So we leaned forward and bowed our heads in prayer. God’s covenant people prayed in the Spirit together, in the place of worship. We broke bread at his table and drank to remember that we are in the care of the one who has felt the full force of the impact.  

Right there, in our seats at church, we all assumed the brace position.

It saves lives. It means survival.

It’s how to survive the impact and sometimes the impact of life is hard. Red alert, emergency procedure, hard.  I recognise that there are so many people who are being hit much, much harder than the normal impact of back to work and school. There may be debris flying through the air and hitting you from all angles. You may be sustaining serious injuries and you’re wondering if you’re going to survive.

Hang in there! Get into a tight brace position and trust the pilot. Put your head down and pray.

There are people in the seats next to you. You are not on your own. Grab the hand of the person next to you and pray.

Jesus is with you! You’re grabbing his hand too.

Call on the name of the Lord, pray to him and he will listen. (Jeremiah 29:12)

No matter what your anxieties are, present your petitions and requests and pray. (Philippians 4:6)

God has another Sunday waiting for us at the end of this week. Every Sunday is a reminder that one day we will be with all of his people and we won’t have to brace for impact any more.

In the meantime, assume the position.