Fatal Flaws

I’m not the kind of person who is always looking for the silver lining in a storm cloud. I’m positive, but I’d like to think I’m also realistic about life. Sometimes we may never know why we suffer. Job never knew, even though we know, since we have the 3^rd person perspective (cf. Job 1).

But we can always learn from tragedy.

Tuscaloosa. Joplin. Hackleburg. Phil Campbell. Countless others. Some were larger cities, others were small towns. All suffered. All are still suffering. And then I find the following article on USA Today’s website: Tornado lessons could lead to stronger buildings.

You see, a pile of rubble might not look like a lot to you and me. But to people who study the effects of storms, it’s a gold mine of information. Tim Marshall, a meteorologist and engineer, said the following:

"The damage is Mother Nature's fingerprint, and I play Sherlock Holmes looking for evidence…"I looked at residences, businesses and schools in order to see what the fatal flaws were in these buildings that made them collapse." (Keen, 2011)

Sometimes we can’t tell where a fatal flaw is until it is exposed. Without crash testing cars, we can’t see what needs to be fortified or redesigned. No one who is thinking straight would dare try to scale a wall on a rope without first giving it a good, hard pull from the ground. Sometimes things need to be broken for them to be made stronger.

The same thing is true of the struggles you face in your life. The old adage, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” has a bit of truth to it. The Bible puts it this way:

“³ The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.” (Proverbs 17:3, NKJV)

Oddly, we usually spend more time protecting, and hiding our weaknesses, rather than working to eradicate them. Doesn’t that seem a bit backwards to you? Maybe it’s because the process of getting better hurts. But sometimes we have to go “through the fire” or “into the storm” to come out better on the other side. Our trials can provide us valuable information about ourselves, and help us to become better if we learn from what we live through.

James puts it this way:

“² My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. ” (James 1:2–4, NET)

When things are broken down, you get a chance to learn. You get a chance to see where you can be stronger. You get a chance to put things back together in a better, stronger way. You’ve seen the weaknesses. Now fortify them with God, and His Word, before your flaws become eternally fatal.

~Daniel Howell

Works Cited

Keen, J. (2011, June 6). Tornado lessons could lead to stronger buildings. Retrieved June 7, 2011, from USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2011-06-07-tornado-lessons-building-design_n.htm