Trust in Him

"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you." -Isaiah 26:3

We've endured a complete change of life due to COVID-19 and the aftermath from the death of George Floyd. It feels like life as we know it may never be the same. It is certainly certain that no one is certain about anything. Experts in religion, science, medicine, government policy, public opinion, social media, and the economy don't seem to agree on anything. There is strife and division everywhere we look. Opinions on how to move forward together as a country seem to be ever changing and evolving. Even change for the better is met with resistance. With the constant change we are facing, it is easy to be stressed, depressed, angry, pessimistic, and anxious about our future.

What we all need is assurance. We all need that rock to hold onto. God promises His "perfect peace" to us if we just hold on to and trust in Him. He is immovable, unshakable, immortal, perfect, and constant. He is the only One we can count on. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever(Hebrews 13:8). He never promised us this life would be easy, predictable, or comfortable. He does promise to always be with us and give us His peace and strength to endure. It is evident to me that if I put my trust in Him, I will have peace, no matter what is going on around me. Faith in anything but Him has and will lead to disappointment. May we trust Him, and may He grant us His perfect peace.

 

May the LORD bless you and keep you!

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Slug

"Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys." -Proverbs 18:9

"Slug" is one of those names that you do not want attached to you in the fire department. Hard work is an essential asset of anyone wishing to succeed in the fire service. While cleaning toilets as a young "tabber" at Station 12, my captain told me that I would go far in the fire department if I kept up my work ethic. My chief at Station 82 made it a point to instruct me not to be like the previous rookie, who earned the notorious label "slug." As an officer it is easy to see that the best firefighters are the ones who are always working. Hard work ensures that everything is in a state of readiness for whatever the shift may throw at you. Simply put by someone, hard work pays off. 

One of the keys to life is not being afraid of work and getting our hands dirty. We should relish the opportunity to put forth our best effort in whatever we do, "as unto the Lord(Colossians 3:23)." Every wake up call is a chance to do God's work. Maintaining relationships takes work. Repairing damaged ones, even more work. Staying connected to God does take work on our part. Loving your neighbor, yup, takes work. Loving your enemy, serious work. Racial reconciliation, you guessed it, takes work. Changing your world, a lifetime of work.  

The implications of being a slacker are related to destruction. Consider unkempt yards, dilapidated homes, failing relationships, preventable diseases, financial struggles, societal unrest, divided communities, and feeling distant from God. A slack attitude in life leads to loss at every corner and is downright sinful to those around us and to God. Start with putting in the work of knowing and loving God. In turn, He will guide you in putting in the work of loving your spouse, children, neighbor(everyone), enemy, and world. Then and only then will we see true transformation. 

May the LORD bless you and keep you!

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Blessed Are the Meek

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." - Matthew 5:5

Most firefighters I know can relate to the above picture. Many of them have had to keep their shoulders back, eyes forward, and mouths shut while being berated, I mean molded, by their drill sergeant. While it was in their best interest to do so, they were getting a true exercise in meekness. Every fiber in their being wanted to smart off or fight back, but they chose not to. We always have a choice.

We often equate meekness with weakness. In reality, the opposite is true. To be meek is to have the ability or right to do something, and refraining for the greater good. Being meek takes a great deal of inner strength and restraint. It is choosing to keep your mouth shut when you want to let someone have it. It is walking away from the mouthy and belligerent antagonist. It is allowing your inner strength to trump your physical and verbal might. Let us imitate Christ who as God had the power to destroy His earthly enemies, yet kept his mouth shut, and endured extreme physical pain for the sake of the world.

Just because we can doesn't mean we should. May we have the wisdom to know when and how to display our strength. Oh that we would value inner strength and restraint over reckless might. May we keep unity and peace at the forefront of our minds. May we choose the way of Christ over all else. May we rule over our emotions. May we be meek and in turn be blessed.

May the LORD bless you and keep you!

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Family Style

“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, 

proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him." - Luke 8:39

The stay at home orders during COVID-19 have given us an amazing opportunity to slow our lives down, and quite frankly, I am enjoying the slower pace of life. We aren't rushing around as much anymore. Since all practices and games have been cancelled, we have time to be together as a family. Hopefully you are spending that time around a dinner table. 

The dinner table at home is even more important than the dinner table at the station. It is the place where our relationships are forged and our worth is found. It is a place to both hear and to be heard. It is a place of love, acceptance, and truth. Kids who eat dinner regularly with their families develop verbal skills earlier, do better in school and have less incidents of depression and drug use. I believe that families who eat and pray together, stay together. 

My family has enjoyed lots of laughter and conversation over the past month and a half. We aren't scarfing down our food to get to the next thing. We are actually enjoying each other's company. With more time for meaningful conversation, now is the perfect time to share your faith with your children. It is an excellent time to pray together and count your blessings. It is a time where you can share how God has come through for you, how He has changed your life, and how you can't imagine life without Him, especially during this pandemic.  Seize this opportunity to share your life and faith with your family. Let us declare just how much He has done and is doing for us. 

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You!

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Sharing is Caring

"And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

These are interesting times. For the first time in our lives we have seen the world come to a stand still with no end in site. COVID-19 has caused a lot of inner turmoil as we face the uncertainty of tomorrow. It's in these hardest of times that we see what people truly believe and what they are made of. 

One of the first lessons we were taught as toddlers was to share. We were told incessantly to share our toys, food, and mommies. We are taught this because we are born selfish. We want to keep everything and everyone important to us to ourselves. It's human nature. A lesson that many adults should have learned decades ago has seemingly been lost. People are buying more food, soap, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper than they could ever possibly use because they are only thinking of themselves. Then there are the truly wretched who are only buying with the intent of making a profit. 

If you are a Christian, you are called to "do good" and "share with others." In these trying times we do both by thinking of others. It should be common sense. Now is the time for us to share God's love, our time, and resources with our neighbors. Now is the time for love to shine. Here are a few suggestions:

1. If you are sick, stay home. Don't go to work, church, the store, or anywhere  else where you can potentially infect someone else. Disease is something that should not be shared. 
2. If your symptoms are mild, treat them with over the counter remedies until you are better. This will free up our health care professionals to treat those who are critically ill.
3. When you are out shopping and the shelves are fully stocked, only buy what you need, and save some for the next person. 
4. Show compassion and patience to your store clerks as they are working harder than most, and tell them, "Thank you."
5. Check on the elderly who are the most susceptible and on fixed incomes. Share what you have with them or ask them what they need and get it for them.
6. Many parents don't have the luxury of working from home, so as school is cancelled and if you are able, offer to help take care their students while they work.
7. If your faith in the Lord is strong and you have a peace during this storm, share the reason for the hope you have. Pray for and with those who are struggling. 

I could go on and on, but I think we all get the point. Let's do the right thing. Let's be decent human beings, and in doing so, God is pleased. Be blessed!

-Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Photo Credit: Sonia Escobedo

Confession

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

One of my favorite things about fire station life is sitting around the table sharing life. Every morning and evening we (hopefully) share a meal together and talk. We solve the world's problems, vent, and laugh. We talk about anything and everything rather frankly. 

As believers in Christ, James tells us to confess our sins to each other. For some reason this is something extremely hard for those of us who are truly trying to follow Christ. Before we were in Christ we had no problem boasting about our sins. We actually wore them as a badge of honor. My Protestant children had no clue what the above picture is. When asked, one said, "A coffin?" True Biblical confession is a lost art.

We don't confess our sins because we don't want to admit our faults and failures, because they really become true once the words leave our mouths. We may feel that we are weaker and less than. Maybe we fear judgment. Some of us have been vulnerable before and a trusted friend used those words of confession against us. Whatever the reason, we must all remember that we are all sinners(Romans 3:23), and our temptations are common to us all(1 Corinthians 10:13).

James says that healing comes from our confessions. We don't have to carry the weight of our guilt and shame. We don't have to let it keep us from church and away from God. That weight causes so much inner turmoil which can lead to anxiety, depression, and isolation. Christ desires for us to be free. We all need that one person with whom we can share our deepest darkest secrets. That person who will then pray for us and encourage us to follow Christ and keep us accountable. Who is that person for you? Chances are that person is struggling with the same things you are and will not treat you like you have the plague. Let us find our people and in turn our healing in confession.

-Be Blessed,

Senior Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

Soar

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:31

It was nice to gain my hour of sleep back this past weekend. However, it is not nice having darkness swoop in before dinner. I've been ready to go to bed at 8 every night this week. The darkness and ensuing tiredness seem to correlate with the ongoing election battle. Never in my career has there been a more stressful time for HFD. I know most of us are experiencing a mental fatigue like never before. 

One thing is for certain, this world will let you down. Our city officials have and will continue to let us down. We should all have the mayor and city council be our pallbearers so they can let us down one last time. Even the people we love and trust let us down from time to time. It is easy to lose hope when elections,  court cases, and life don't go our way.

God is the only One who won't let us down. He Always follows through with His promises.  He hasn't let me down yet. We should focus our hope on the sure thing, Him. In fact when we do, He gives us the strength to face everything that comes our way. His Word promises that we will SOAR. Are you tired of just getting by? Are you ready to soar? Then, put your hope and trust in Him. 

-Sr. Captain Bobby Delgado

HFD Chaplain

The Best is Yet to Come

"However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him"- 1 Corinthians 2:9

In Genesis 41:1-40, after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream and devising a plan for the upcoming famine, Joseph was made second in-charge of the land of Egypt. Joseph’s journey to the palace was one full of hardship and adversity. Joseph was blessed with the ability to interpret dreams, and he was also well loved by his father. In fact, Joseph’s father loved him more than he loved his other ten sons(Genesis 37:3). His father’s love for him, alone with his ability to interpret dreams, caused Joseph’s brothers to hate him(Genesis 37:5-11). Because of his brothers’ jealousy and hatred for him, they schemed to get rid of Joseph and threw him into a cistern and later sold him into slavery(Genesis 37:12-28). This would only be the beginning of Joseph’s hardships. Next, he was falsely accused by his master’s wife and thrown into prison(Genesis 39:1-20). Then, he was forgotten about after helping the king’s cupbearer by interpreting his dream(Genesis 40:1-23). Through it all, Joseph never gave up, and he always trusted in his God because he understood that his best was yet to come.

Right now, you might be thinking that all the suffering and the sorrow you are enduring will not equal to anything good. However, just like Joseph, God could be using all the difficult situations and problems you have gone through to prepare you for something greater. God could be working behind the scenes arranging a tremendous blessing for you and your family. You will never realize it if you give up now. That’s why the Bible teaches us to walk by faith and not by sight(2 Corinthians 5:7). Even though you cannot see God’s blessings being formulated, you can trust and believe that they are in the works. You can trust that God has something good that He is preparing for you right now. As Christians, we have to be able to look past our present dilemmas and see all the wonderful possibilities that life can bring. We need to be able to visualize all the amazing blessings that God has in store for us and our loved ones. As believers, we must be able to see through all the pain and anguish and allow God to show us that the best is yet to come.

-Captain Rinthian Pickney

HFD Station 42C