S05E017, Just Stand Still! Andy B 2 Minute Video
In 1996 my girlfriend, and I, were walking through the central heart of Manchester City Centre. We had noticed a very heavy police presence, and police helicopters flying overhead but we had no clue what was shortly coming!
There was a sudden crack, and a thunderous noise - with a shockwave I’ve never been able to verbalise. People were screaming and glass panels, many times larger than a person, were falling dangerously close. One strike from any one of those panes would have killed you outright.
Jo and I were standing underneath those panels as they fell to the ground.
All in all we got off fairly lightly – I only had to deal with a pounding, excruciating headache that never abated, for several weeks. I was told I got off lighter than many other people.
The initial blast sent me into shock. Meanwhile, my cool as a cucumber girlfriend, found us a way out of Central Manchester – a City she did now know. Her shock, and tears, would come later.
We had survived the largest, ever, British mainland bomb in history. I went on to marry that woman and she is now my wife, Jo. Told you she was a ‘good ‘un’.
You can never know how you’ll behave at high altitudes, or when a bomb goes off!
Our vastly different responses to a shock have been repeated many times over the years, although we’ve only had to survive one bomb blast so far.
About a week ago we found out we were going to face a sizable loss to our income. The timing couldn’t have been worse: I reacted with panic, and Jo didn’t seem to notice. Again, her shock would come out later.
As a family we’ve been living by faith for quite a good number of years. What I mean by that is that we don’t go out of way to ensure we have enough money but, by doing what God has asked us – and serving Him with [my] time, we are utterly dependent upon Him for all that we need.
But that situation has passed. We’ve had two gifts, and we can now get through the month.
Situations change and I’ve always said that living one day at a time is too much because life can change in a second!
So, when panic mounts upon you, try and stand still long enough to let God rescue you.
If you’re facing a bear, or even a charging cow, running away can be the most dangerous thing you can do. Standing still can save your life. And that works for our lives as Christians too.
So, don’t be in too much of a rush to help God fix your situation – give Him the right to intervene in His timing. And, don’t be too hard on yourself on not reacting well. Just give it to God and move on.
Just a thought...
Andy B
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Transcript
0:06
So, another Andy B 2 Minute Video. And, in a sense, this is a little bit of a testimony. Because I don't know about you, but when when bad stuff happens, I don't mean, the good and the evil, I mean, when something shocking and dramatic happens, how do you respond to that?
0:22
I've done a few videos on this. But we've recently had quite a big shock. It was something sent me into a bit of a panic. We got some prayer. Jo was really calm and it reminded me of the Manchester bombing in 1996.
0:34
Jo and I were actually both in Manchester City centre, where the police said people couldn't be, 'cos he hadn't quite got to his yet. Actually, there were people there. And we were some of those. Glass sheets fell down as the largest explosion ever, on mainland British history from the IRA, went off. And Jo and I were very, very close.
0:51
A shockwave is something I've never been able to verbalise, The glass sheets that would have killed us, falling around us. I went into panic. Jo was so calm and got out of the city centre. We got to where I lived. She burst into tears. How we dealt with that situation was very different. We've seen that many, many times when, when things suddenly come along, that grab you we respond in different ways.
1:18
But I was thinking about either, even, well a bear is an obvious one. Perhaps even a cow that's charging at you. They can both kill you. But, actually, running away isn't really going to be the safest option most of the time. Sometimes it might be. But how we respond is something it's very hard to know unti you've been in that explosion, you don't know what's going to happen, until that finance suddenly goes and you lose your job how are you going to react, you don't really know. Until you find your child has got a terminal disease, you don't know how you're going to respond, and how you're going to react.
1:52
Now, as it happens, we've had some gifts. We've tried to stand peacefully, as best as we can through the panic, and the terror and the white knuckling. And we've had a gift today, which is going to carry us through to the end of month and partly into next month as well, which is an amazing gift.
2:05
So, it's my simple encouragement to you this.
2:07
We don't know what's going to happen to us. We cannot plan for the future. Jo and I would not have been in Manchester City Centre in 1996 if we knew that bomb was going to go off. Well, what do you do when it happens? Well, in those first moments not even training's gonna help. But that will kick in. And, as we've gone through life, actually, we've learned, living by faith as we do, that God's gonna meet us.
2:26
A bit like the Israelites sometimes we're looking back thinking, 'Yeah, but it used to be better. Look at the cucumbers', the Israelites used to say.
2:32
My encouragement is this. When terror comes your way suddenly, stand long enough, and give God the right to intervene in His timing.
2:41
Just a thought.