Expect The Unexpected Series

The alarms turned out to be in error, but Petrov did not know it at the time. It was one of the most tense periods of the Cold War, which led to Russians living in constant fear in anticipation of a US attack.

Petrov felt pressure to take immediate action, but he sought clarity on the situation. According to the New York Times, “After five nerve-racking minutes — electronic maps and screens were flashing as he held a phone in one hand and an intercom in the other, trying to absorb streams of incoming information — Colonel Petrov decided that the launch reports were probably a false alarm.”

His superiors later reprimanded Petrov for not immediately reacting to the situation that confronted him. Petrov defended his inaction, pointing out that the alert system had been rushed to use and was likely inaccurate.

“We are wiser than the computers,” he said (Sewell Chan, “Stanislav Petrov, Soviet Officer Who Helped Avert Nuclear War, Is Dead at 77,” New York Times, 9-18-17; www.PreachingToday.com).

Stanislav Petrov had averted nuclear war, but his superiors reprimanded him for it. Some of you have experienced something similar. You do the right thing at work, perhaps averting disaster, but your boss refuses to acknowledge it. Or even worse, he reprimands you for what you did, threatening to fire you.

That’s life under the sun. Life is unpredictable, so expect to be surprised. 1st, expect people to despise your wisdom. 2nd…

EXPECT ONE FOOLISH ACT TO DESTROY YOUR WISDOM.

Anticipate that one stupid deed will ruin a hundred wise deeds. Assume that one misdeed will spoil all your good work.

Ecclesiastes 9:17-18 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good (ESV).

Though quiet words of wisdom outweigh the shouts of the powerful, and though wisdom is more powerful than weapons of war, one sinner will ruin all that you have worked so hard to accomplish.

Ecclesiastes 10:1 Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor (ESV).

A dead fly in the most expensive perfume makes it stink. So one foolish act ruins years of wise and honorable work.

An opulent, 900-foot cruise ship sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage from England to New York. That ship, of course, was the Titanic, on which 1500 people died in the worst maritime disaster of the time.

Experts suspected that the ship hit an iceberg, which opened a huge gash in the side of the liner. However, 85 years later (1997), an international team of divers and scientists used sound waves to probe the wreckage, buried in the mud under two-and-a-half miles of water. Their discovery? The damage was surprisingly small. Instead of a huge gash, they found six relatively narrow slits across the six watertight holds (USA Today, 4/9/97; Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 4; www.PreachingToday.com).

Just a small imperfection, invisible to most, can sink not only a great ship but also a great reputation. So watch yourself. Don’t let one stupid act ruin years of wise and honorable work.