The Explosive Consequences Of Neglect

Neglect not the gift of God, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

1 Timothy 4:14

Last week, a warehouse containing 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut, Lebanon. The explosion killed 137 people, injured 5,000 more, and over 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes. The explosion left a 405 foot hole in the middle of the city, has caused an estimated $5 billion dollars in damage, and further decimated a city already ravaged by poverty and civil unrest. To make matters worse, the entire cabinet of government officials resigned in the wake of the explosion. 

Preliminary reports suggest that the explosion was caused by neglect. Several years ago, the country received a massive shipment of agricultural fertilizer which was stored in the now exploded warehouse. Although repeatedly warned that the fertilizer contained a chemical that if exposed to heat would melt and eventually explode, officials did nothing. They allowed it to sit and fester for six years!

Last Tuesday, it exploded. What was intended to feed became fuel for a fire.

If the preliminary reports prove correct, this incident will be a devastating reminder of the explosive consequences of neglect. It is a stark and sad reminder of what happens when we fail to address potentially explosive issues. 

Unfortunately, the practice of neglect is not limited to warehouses in the Middle East.

All of us are guilty. 

In the last letter he wrote before he died, the Apostle Paul warned his protégé Timothy not to neglect the “gifts” that he had received from God. As a man who lived long and saw much, Paul understood how tragic life can be when we fail to take full advantage of whatever gifts God has given us.

What are you neglecting? Your health? Your children? Your career? Your marriage? Your retirement plans? Whatever it is, let the blast in Beirut remind you of what can happen when we allow critical issues to go unaddressed and unresolved.

As Stephen Covey reminds us In his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we should never allow what is important to take precedent over what is urgent. It is so easy to confuse the two.  Urgent activities include ringing phones, deadline driven projects, text messages, the funny TikTok video that your best friend just sent, personal and professional crises, and all of the pressing matters that greet us on any given day. Urgent matters are "visible, they press on us, and they insist on action." Important activities include building relationships, going to the doctor (when nothing is wrong), getting enough rest and exercise, and writing that thank you note to the friend who came to your birthday party. Important activities "contribute to your mission and vision," but rarely do they shout for our attention. And that is precisely why they are so frequently neglected. When we finally do attend to important matters, it is usually too late.   

Don't wait until things start blowing up in your life to start paying attention to what's really important.