Everything Happens For A Reason

 

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart…”

—Psalm 138:1a

One of the most meaningful honors someone in fire protection engineering can receive is to be elected a Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.

The honoree must be nominated by a group of his or her peers. Each nominator must provide many pages of testimony that document the accomplishments the nominee has made to the field of fire protection engineering.

Then an SFPE committee must review all of the documentation to determine if the work done by the nominee rises to the level of excellence of this signal honor. If the committee agrees with the nomination, the nominee is inducted as a Fellow at the next annual meeting of the Society.

When I was writing my own acceptance speech for this honor several years ago, I carefully considered all the events that had occurred in my life and in my professional career that gave me the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of fire protection engineering.

I quickly realized that, without exception, every single opportunity had come to me as a very specific gift from God. It was He who laid out the pathway of my life. He put key people along that path so they could mentor me. He arranged events through unusual linkage and timing that would give me insight and knowledge.

In my acceptance speech I told the story of the first time I was called to ride in the “shotgun” seat of an Engine—the seat normally occupied by the company officer—on the way to a fire. We were short-handed that day with several fire fighters and officers attending a training class. When the bell hit for a working house fire, the Chief ordered me to ride shotgun on Engine 29.

“What do I do?” I asked the driver.

“See that switch on the floor next to your foot? That runs the siren. When we approach an intersection, stomp on that switch.”

We rolled out of the fire house. I put my foot on the siren switch. The motor on that old Federal Q10 siren started to wind up. The siren howled and we were off on our way to the fire.

I was so caught up in the adrenaline rush that I never took my foot off the siren switch. Later, as the fire was out and we were performing overhaul operations, the Chief approached me.

“Good job, Wilson,” he said with a smile. “Next time, let your foot off the siren switch once in a while.”

As I concluded my acceptance speech, I told the audience gathered to honor me:

“I’m very grateful that many years ago I made the wise choice of allowing God to drive the Engine of my life. And, I'm grateful to Him that He’s let me ride shotgun and operate the siren.

“Every place I’ve gone and all I may appear to have accomplished is because He’s been in the driver’s seat. All I did was jam that siren switch to the floor and not let it up.”

From my current vantage point almost ten years later, I feel like I identify with what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 138:1-3:

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame. When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.

God delights in “driving” to the places He wants us to go. He sincerely hopes that we are grateful for His direction.

 

_{Copyright © 2014 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

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