Someone has demonstrated how recently change has escalated. It was suggested that if you looked at the last 3,000 years and compared it to a clock of 60 minutes, you would find that over the last 3,000 years most of the change has come in the last 9 minutes.
Nine minutes ago the printing press was discovered, 3 minutes ago the telegraph, phonograph, and trains arrived. Two minutes ago the telephone, automobiles, radio, and airplanes arrived. Television occurred in the last 10 seconds. The computer came into existence in the last 5 seconds. Satellites and laser beams came in the last couple of seconds.
If you use that same scale of one hour in reference to medicine, for 59 minutes very little developed in medicine. One minute ago antibiotics were invented, and 10 seconds ago open heart surgery was developed. In fact, most of the advancements in medicine have come in the last 10 seconds as compared to the whole clock before.
History has been affected by people who were willing to navigate change and look for better ways to do things. We are the recipients of much of that today.
Max Lucado points out an important change that affected history in a decisive battle fought in 1066. William, the Duke of Normandy, dared to invade England. The English were next to invincible in their own land.
But William was going to fight in a different way. He had something the English did not. He had invented a device which gave his army a heavy advantage in battle. He was willing to think outside the box. He looked for a better way to allow his troops to use their horses. He developed something that gave his army an edge – the stirrup.
Conventional wisdom of the day was that a horse was too unstable a platform from which to fight. As a result, soldiers would ride their horses to the battlefield and then dismount before engaging in combat. But the Norman army, standing secure in their stirrups, was able to ride down the English. They were faster, and they were stronger.
The stirrups led to the conquest of England. Without the use of stirrups William might never have challenged such an enemy. Because they had a way to stand in the battle they were victorious after the battle.
How much better could we fight the battle against the evil one today? We are not fighting against “flesh and blood but against the world forces of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Satan is clever and always devising new ways to attack us. We must have on each piece of the Armor of God (Eph. 6:13-18) and be constantly asking if we are wearing and utilizing each piece productively.
In a day of rapid change, the God who never changes is always helping us find “stirrups” that can make us victorious. How willing are we to think outside the box and pursue God’s ways of doing things today?
See any stirrups?
