I had recently flown on a plane and was reminded of the importance of putting your mask on yourself first before assisting others, in case of an emergency.
If you’ve ever flown before you know that the context of the above statement is around an emergency situation where the airplane is about to crash. In an event where the airplane is about to crash, oxygen masks are deployed from a compartment above your head and you are asked to put on the mask.
The emphasis on putting your mask on yourself first before assisting others comes from the notion that many people who are accompanied by vulnerable populations like children and seniors, may feel the need or urge to assist them in putting their mask on for them before they put their own mask on themselves.
This is a noble act. One that is driven by love and sacrifice, desiring to put the needs of others above yourself. However, in this particular case, the failure to put on your own mask first may result in the incapacitation of oneself, which leads to an inability to help anyone. Your one act of valour ends up turning into a more detrimental consequence for the one you are trying to help.
For most of us this is a concept we are already familiar with, yet I can tell you first hand how hard it can be to live out. If you are like me and have a bunch of things on the go, many new roles and responsibilities and relationships to maintain, you may find yourself trying to “put the mask on for others and forgetting or never having time to put it on yourself.” I’ve fallen into the trap of people pleasing and having to carry burdens that are not mine to hold. As a result of falling on my face time and time again, I’ve needed to metaphorically put my mask on myself before I do anything.
For me, spending time with God is my oxygen. I’ve tried living without it and even testing it to see how long I can go without it and it turns out I can’t live on bread alone but on every word that comes from God.
One of the things Gabe always tells us is this: “if you’re going to drop anything in ministry, don’t drop your time with God.” You can miss a deadline, forget to practice, mess up a message, or drop the ball somewhere but whatever you do, remain connected to the vine.
Scripture tells us the importance of staying connected to the vine:
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:5-8 (NIV)
I believe God is our source and sustainer; without Him there is no ministry. And to be honest with you, without Him there is no life.
Some of us are walking around waiting for someone to put a mask on for them, while others are putting masks on others in hopes that there may be time later to put a mask on themselves.
Let’s take a look at the life of Jesus. The scripture says:
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 5:15-16 (NIV)
“Putting your mask on yourself before assisting others” was not a foreign concept to Jesus. He understood that without prayer and time spent with His father, there was no healing or hearing from Him.
Look what Jesus did when He knew His time was coming. Matthew 26:36 says:
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
Jesus didn’t wait till He was in an “emergency” to know what to do. He practiced “putting His mask on every day as if His life depended on it. So when it came time for an “emergency” He did what He always did; He went to the father and prayed.
I don’t know what “putting your mask on” looks like for you but I suggest that you spend some time understanding what gives you life and how to implement it in your daily life.
There will be a million and one reasons why you should help others put their mask on for them before you put yours on yourself. Trust me, they are all legitimate and valid in their own right but if you’re “incapacitated” mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually, you won’t be able to help them for long.
Father, I pray that you would show us how to live out Matthew 22:36-39. Help us to know what our masks are and to put them on before we do anything else. May we follow in the ways of Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith. We ask that you would be our source and sustainer of our lives, forever and ever. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen!