And There It Goes... by Phil

This week did not go according to my plans, which is why you are reading my Tuesday morning devotion on Wednesday afternoon. It all started Sunday when my phone started randomly turning off and restarting. I was reading the scripture in my Bible app along with the congregation, when all of a sudden, there it goes... blank screen followed by reboot, looking for wifi, and reopening app just as the scripture reading was finished. Throughout the day, the trend continued: listening to some music, and there it goes... texting a friend, and there it goes... getting about two sentences into a phone call, and there it goes... blank screen, yada, yada, yada. Talk about frustrating! I did a little google research and determined it was most likely my battery failing, so I scheduled an appointment to get it swapped out.

Monday morning, instead of the pile of office work I needed to do, I found myself at the Best Buy service desk. After an hour of checking me in, I was told my phone would be ready in three hours. Ok, ran a few errands while I was out and I must admit, it felt sort of strange to be "off-the-grid." No one could reach me by call or text and I couldn't check in with Pam to let her know what was going on. It was like living in 1980 all over again! (less the big hair and nylon tracksuits).

When the clock had rolled around three times I headed back to the service desk to retrieve my little link to the world. I powered it up, checked out a few things... and there it goes again. AARG!!!!! I thought maybe this was a little residual fluke and for the rest of the afternoon everything seemed to be back to normal. Until that evening when, and there it goes... and there it goes... and there it goes... It got to where my phone was restarting every two minutes. This did not make Phil a happy camper! I'm not constantly scrolling on my phone, but it is a tool that I rely upon for many aspects of business and life. When it became unreliable, that was beyond frustrating.

I wonder how God feels when we are unreliable? He has a master plan and graciously includes us to accomplish His will when... and there she goes... chasing after some selfish or sinful pursuit. God has people he wants to reach through us and puts the pieces in place when... and there he goes... distracted by the latest gadget or gizmo. When we wander off after worldly pursuits, there is a reboot period when we reconnect with church or Bible study or prayer. Then just about the time our hearts are lining up with His will and we are useful again... and there they go...

My unreliable phone did not bring joy to my life. (In fact, it brought just the opposite!) Our unreliable and inconsistent Christian walks couldn't possibly bring joy to our Father. We need to follow the advice of every frustrated parent throughout the ages, "Just stop it!"

As Robert Robinson wrote in the 1700s, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love." The old hymn goes on with what should be our prayer... "Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above." We must surrender our hearts and wills to God and ask Him to give us the strength and persistence to stay on the right path... the one that leads us home to Him.

By the way, my new phone will arrive on Friday. My current one will then be thrown on the fiery recycling pile where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Goodbye old phone, hello new one! “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come!” - 2 Corinthians 5:17. Let’s live like it!

Ring, Ring...
Phil and Pam

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