Today's Devotional

April 24th, 2002

Subject:  Is The Line Up?

1Kings 19:12 - "And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice."  

How many times did I get to hear that one night as I spent more than two and a half hours on the phone with my internet service provider in an attempt to restore my service.  To make a really long story short, in an attempt to protect myself from hackers, I installed a personal firewall.  That's a really important piece of protection when you have DSL (high speed internet access) because you're always connected to the internet and there are people out there who like to probe and see who's business they can get into.  Sounds like satan already doesn't it?  Anyway, that software was doing too good a job and wasn't letting anything in and I wasn't able to access anything either, so I had to uninstall the software.  That's what caused all of the problems.  The program had files so deeply imbedded in my computer that I wouldn't have found them in a hundred years.  Even the telephone support guy I was working with was amazed.  We had to find all of the files that were still lurking in the computer and then delete them.  After each one we had to restart the computer to see if it worked.  We must've done that at least 30 or 40 times and I still couldn't access the internet.  Just after midnight he gave one last try to attempt to delete the last file and it worked.  So what's the message out of this?

I spent two and a half hours trying to restore communications so that I could get on the internet.  Do I spend two and a half hours attempting to restore communications with the Heavenly Father when the line is down?  I probably don't.  I probably make a half-hearted attempt and then expect that I will get access again, eventually.  So what does it take for us to have the same fervor about maintaining an open line with Him?  I know for me it's "crisis."  Like the internet, most of us today feel like part of our lives are missing if we've been using it and then are denied it's use.  It becomes crucial.  God wants us to view access with Him as being just as crucial.  Because He loves us so much, when He sees that we are drifting away and not spending time with Him like we used to or are not seeking Him like we used to, He makes us see the necessity of communication with Him.  Ahh, the sweet scent of crisis.  A loved one near death, mounting bills that can't be paid, a spouse who leaves or cheats, or bad news from the doctor.  These are the types of occasions when we cry out for Him to save us as we intently listen for His voice.  The constant open line with Him sees these circumstances as glorious opportunities  A line that is not open sees these circumstances as disaster and defeat.  Remember He wants us to hear His still small voice so that He can lead us and guide us into His perfect way.  In order to do that, we must feel the need to hear Him whenever He speaks and we know that He's always speaking.  Are we always listening?  Let's make sure we can hear Him.  

Moral:  Make sure you don't have any software running in your system that shouldn't be because it will keep you from being able to get the access you need.   

Carlen