The Tank
I have a very large saltwater aquarium. One day the alarm began to go off, letting me know the temperature was dropping. Thinking it was the controller (the thing that measures the temperature and turns the heater on or off as appropriate), I ordered a new one. It was 90 degrees outside that day, and I could adjust the AC up to a degree or two to help.
We were in October, and you guessed it, the faux summer temperature dropped. By Sunday, the high temperature was 70 degrees and by Monday, it had dropped to a high of 60 degrees. It also happened to be Columbus Day (I refuse to buckle to the demand to refer to it as Indigenous People Day because it is a woke demand), so my order wasn’t delivered until Tuesday.
I unboxed the controller and installed it, Now, it wasn’t easy to install due to all the wires I have supporting the tank. But it was accomplished, and so I turned it on. At first, it looked like the temperature was going up but that was only because the daytime temperature outside was raising the house temperature inside. And that night, the first frost of the fall, the temperature in my tank dropped to a point of close to a problem to my tropical inhabitants.
Wednesday morning, I waited for the local pet stores to open to buy a new heater to get some heat into the tank. Tank heaters are based on wattage and there are recommendations for the amount, based on tank gallons. My tank requires a heater not available in local pet stores or two of the largest heaters in pet stores. It irritated me to buy a heater from a pet store for this reason and because I knew I’d pay a premium for the same day purchase. I installed it and the temperature rose to the target level but, because of the watts, it struggled to maintain the temperature. I figured that will buy me a couple of days to order and receive a heater of the appropriate wattage.
“And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” - John 1:19-23 ESV
“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” - 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” - Galatians 5:16-24
There will be tank situations in your life where you have to address the problem with an imperfect solution. Ideally, even though you spend more, you should plan to replace it with a better, more long term solution. Praise God that this is His plan for us.
