President Harry Truman said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!” but he wasn’t talking about the temperature in a kitchen. It was more like “Leave if you can’t handle the pressure.” President Truman was plain spoken, and the Press loved it! He gave them their headlines, and the President was able to get his message out during a time when that wasn’t always easy. These days it is easier to get your message out, but harder to get and keep people’s attention. If the Press doesn’t like your message, they can ignore it or twist it to convey a different meaning. They can create a different kind of “heat” for their opponents and drive them out of “the kitchen” if they can’t handle the pressure.
President Truman’s saying caught my attention because we’ve been experiencing a heat wave in South Texas. With Temperatures reaching over 100F, I can’t stand the heat and have been trying to stay out of the kitchen. Again, this has nothing to do with the temperature in anyone’s kitchen. I stay home in air-conditioned comfort as much as I can and if I must go out, I ride in an air-conditioned car and go directly into air-conditioned buildings when I can. This isn’t a time for outdoor activities for me. I thank GOD for air-conditioning and pity those who don’t have it!
I used to be able to stand the heat because I had to work outside while serving in the military. I was young and tried to act tough. I drank more water and sought shade whenever I could, but sometimes even I had to find some relief. As I got older, I also experienced the kind of heat President Truman was talking about. There were times when I just had to stand the heat and couldn’t leave the kitchen because I was under orders and wasn’t given an option to avoid the pressure. At the end of my State Department career, I was tired of the heat and decided to get out of the kitchen. That’s part of the reason I retired!
I see the Pastor of our Church is withstanding the heat and he’s not about to get out of the kitchen. He and his wife started a Church and a Christian School literally in his kitchen and living room. That was a tremendous weight on their shoulders, but GOD gave them the protection they needed to stand the heat (Eph 6:13) and they did! When GOD miraculously provided a building (Eph 3:20), it took off some of the heat and added another source. Again, GOD miraculously provided, and we are in the building after enduring a lot of heat and a lot of hard work. So, the heat is gone, right?
No way! The heat that weighs most heavily on our Pastor is a world of lost and dying people who don’t see the coming heat that is hotter than they can imagine, and they don’t realize they will never be able to get out of that pain and the misery! They will stand the heat because they have no choice! Their friends and loved ones being with them will add to their misery!
It doesn’t have to be like that because a way was provided to avoid the heat altogether. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17 KJV). If they accept JESUS as their Savior, they will go to Heaven and avoid the heat of Hell!
Wayne Lance (2022) – That’s Good News to Share!