It’s amazing to realize how fast I can adapt to new surroundings and at the same time fail to understand the impact of that ability.  If you have been following us, you’ve likely seen us post about the air quality in Chiang Mai (like Alisha’s post from a few weeks ago: https://ourparadoxology.com/breathing-paradox/).  From mid-January through late April or May, villagers in Northern Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar routinely burn the jungles, fields, ditches, and rice paddies.  There’s debate as to the reason for this practice but the results are the same.  Due to the mountainous terrain, lack of seasonal rainfall, and shortage of wind, the rising smoke has nowhere to go and subsequently hovers like a suffocating blanket over Chiang Mai.

Having lived on open prairies of North Central Nebraska, I never once thought about air quality.  We were always breathing fresh air.  “Bad air” was how we might have referred to seasonal pollen, but, even then, the pollen signified vibrant and healthy ecosystems all around us.  

The Air Quality Index (AQI) has six color ranges: Green 1-50, Yellow 51-100, Orange 101-150, Red 151-200, Purple 201-300, and Maroon 301+.  The air quality in Atkinson, NE, regularly hovers in single digit territory, or comfortably Green.  When we stepped off the plane in Chiang Mai, the air quality was about 125 – orange.  By mid-April, we had air quality readings in excess of 500.  Just this week, it has dropped for the first time since we’ve lived here to below 100 – yellow.  Comparatively, we now feel incredible, and yet, we are still a long way from the air quality we’re used to.

What I am learning through all of this is how easily I adjust to circumstances around me, regardless of if they are positive or negative.  When adversity becomes normal, I adjust to the new normal without regard to the consequences. It is like the slow boiling frog analogy.  I think It is easy to understand the metaphor of the water increasing temperature just like the air quality getting worse. Just like the proverbial frogs, I acclimate to the harsh environment around me. One might argue to be an enviable dexterity of personality.  What I don’t as easily recognize is that when the environment starts to improve (the water temp drops or air quality cleans up), I become excited and thankful for the relief, but don’t even realize that the new present conditions are still worse than what I should expect or desire.  A water temperature of 120 is far less than 212, but not remotely close to the temperature a frog would normally be expected to thrive in.

While it’s a skill and positive attribute having the ability to function amid turmoil, tribulation, adversity, or hardships, the danger is being content with the new normal, or adjusting to a dangerous situation that isn’t as bad as it was at its worst, but still worse than it was before the situation arose in the first place.  To put it another way, a child may start off clean but when he finds an irresistible mud puddle and proceeds to cover himself head to toe, the first action is to hose him off.  It’s true that he’s cleaner than he was when the mud was caked in his hair, but it’s not the same as being clean.

My spiritual journey is the same.  I may not be as flagrantly bad as I once was, but that’s not the same as being as clean as I should be.  My ability to adapt is not a strength when it comes to getting comfortable to the sin around me, even when I experience great relief from previous degrees of sinful bondage.  I think Satan uses the skill of contentment as a weapon against improvement: I’m better than I once was, but that is not the same as being as good as I should be.  It’s not an argument for effort.  I can’t clean my sin away more than I can make it rain to clear the smoke.  My ability to adjust easily to new situations can subsequently be a barrier preventing me from experiencing the necessary cleansing only Jesus’ blood can offer.