STRESS RELIEF for Firefighters & Paramedics from Chaplain Skip

I want you to think back on times when your own strength was just absolutely drained. I think about training. I think about the times that I would have to take physical agility tests. Remember? Pulling fifty foot ,unrolled sections of two and half inch line so many feet, in so many seconds? Then, you would have to throw a fifty foot roll of inch and half on your shoulder and run up the training tower steps.

Or how about the last working fire in a large structure you were on? Remember having to hump the charged lines up stairs and around corners and over debris?

Where did your strength come from? I mean, you obviously were given the strength to complete all those tasks, or else you wouldn't be reading this. Do you think your strength came from your own will? I don't.

I believe that those of us who have been chosen by our REAL CHIEF to do this job are given strength from above... HE is our 'personal trainer.' Yes, I believe that it is the CREATOR of all things who gives us that 'superhuman' strength we sometimes seem to possess in the 'midst of battle.'

The references to GOD's strength are numerous in the SOP for life... the Bible. King David often said and prayed that he looked to GOD's strength to defeat his enemies in battle. Now think about that. Our enemy is fire. Don't you think we need to draw on HIS strength to help us defeat our enemy, too? Absolutely!

The next time you are feeling drained... at a fire, doing CPR, performing a heavy rescue... whatever the task at hand is - seek the face of our REAL CHIEF. Ask HIM for HIS strength. Draw on HIS strength. Rely on HIS strength as you serve...

"While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

There are lots and lots of different radio systems out there. Do you know your radios? There are low and high band VHF units. There are UHF radios. There are 800 megahertz trunked systems. There are simplex frequencies. There are duplex frequencies. We have repeaters, handhelds, mobiles and even satellite radios.

Yes, in public service, we are well equipped for communications. We have to be. But, you know as well as I do, that even the most sophisticated system fails every once in a while.

You might remember that communications were knocked out on 9-11-01 because some of the radio equipment and towers were on the World Trade Center buildings. A sudden lack of repeater communications is one of the things that hinders emergency services.

I remember hearing audio clips of the fire department from FDNY on that fateful day. After the collapse of the first tower, repeaters went out. I can remember hearing the dispatcher calling, time and time again, "Manhattan to Field Comm!" "Manhattan to Field Comm, K!" No response.

Has it happened to you? You call and no one responds? It can be a very lonely feeling.

Well, good news. You can call our REAL CHIEF and HE always responds. Not with a radio... no, we use something much more powerful... PRAYER! That's right, it is more powerful than any manmade radio system out there. Why? Because it communicates directly with the CREATOR of the universe!

Our verse this week reminds us to "listen to HIM." Him, of course, is JESUS CHRIST. We have to learn to listen. We tend to be good at "transmitting" a prayer. Are you good at "receiving," also? GOD always responds. Just remember that HE responds in HIS timing.

So, turn up the "volume" - adjust the "squelch. Pray. Then listen. That is how we communicate effectively...

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

Though I am not Catholic, I believe everyone felt the loss at the passing of Pope John Paul II.

It is at times like these that we all come to the realization that there is an end to this life on earth. Death, it seems, is right in our face when we learn that someone has passed away.

This week, the word "comfort" appears an amazing nine times in four verses. We need these words of comfort right now, don't we?

You know, as well as I do, that the media is going to air everything imaginable in the next few days. Every time one of the stories is aired, it may bring you pain and sorrow.

So, I want you to do something... carry a Bible with you. Or, write the verses down. Or, copy them from this article. However you choose to do it, pull out the "comfort verses." Read them. Meditate on them. Trust in those words.

As you ponder those verses, you will be comforted. As you are comforted, you are given the compassion to comfort others.

Our REAL CHIEF is the GOD of comfort. HE knows when you are hurting. Let HIM hold you in HIS Mighty Arms, as you serve...

It is my prayer that the verses we discuss help each of you as it has helped me deal with the amount of stress we are all faced to deal with.

If you are not yet saved, I have Good News for you. Jesus loves you very much and His Holy Spirit is drawing you to Him. To learn more, click here.

The folks at the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation can also help if you have been involved in a Critical Incident.

Chaplain Skip writes STRESS RELIEF every week, usually on Sunday afternoon