A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers     

Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me.”  Professor Julie Crockett, along with her colleague, Professor Dan Maynes, from Brigham Young University’s mechanical engineering department are credited with developing a surface where water rolls up and rolls off like a ball.  Professor Crockett explained, “To create a superhydrophobic surface, you can’t just do that with a coating like Teflon or wax, you have to actually put a structure on it.  In nature, lotus leaves do this really well, so what we do in the lab is similar to what we observe on the lotus leaf—we have these structures, and we have water sitting on top of them.”  In her lab, the team had designed a variety of rib and cavity structures, as well as posts, that the water sits on top of, like a ball.  As the water droplet falls onto one of Professor Crocket’s superhydrophobic surfaces, it spread out like a traditional drop on the surface.  But, unlike typical droplets, the structure caused it to come back together again until it lifts off the surface completely. Professor Crockett explained that water molecules are more attracted to themselves than the surface she has created, meaning they pull together before rolling straight off the surface.  The professor’s discovery yielded a breakthrough in topical products that can be applied to almost any material making it virtually waterproof.  If only there was such a product that could be applied to our livesso that we could better allow things to just “roll off.”  In fact, there is. As Professor Crockett discovered, the secret to this phenomenon is in the configuration of the surface of the respective material.  The design must be proactive not reactive.  A person who has already accepted the fact that offenses will come, but has purposed not to allow those offenses to control the manner in which they react, has a greater chance of seeing issues “roll off” that those who merely react emotionally.  Understanding this principle, can help us properly prepare the surface of our lives, so that no matter what comes our way, it will roll off, not roll into our lives, allowing us to live in His perfect peace with each new day.