Connection Failed

I really have no idea what I would do without internet. I really think the Earth would stop spinning if something happened to to it.

My brain is actually connected to the internet. Seriously.

Whenever I get a thought that I feel is worthy to be shared with the world I pull out my phone, type it up and send it to my Twitter account. From there, this thought is tweeted to everybody who follows me (I like to pretend more people follow me than actually do), sent to my Facebook as a status update, and posted to the side of my blog for my readers to see. Some thoughts come to me that I want to write down but not publish yet so instead of using my brain to remember all that stuff I send that thought to my Evernote account (via Twitter) where it is stored in a big electronic notebook filled with random ideas that sync with my computer every time I turn it on. Many of these random thoughts evolve into bigger ideas and as my brain begins processing and hashing them all out my fingers begin typing and with one click the whole shebang is published to the world on my blog account, usually without me even proofreding fr spelllling errors. Then I post a link to this blog on Facebook.

Someday I am sure that Google+ will make it’s way into my brain, but I am not cool enough for that yet.

I was thinking about this the other day and something occurred to me that makes me continually grateful. What if I was trying to do all this with dial- up?

Ooh, just saying the word dial-up just brings back painful memories of the electronic dark ages of the nineties.

Remember dial-up internet? It took like four days to check your email and you had to pay by the minute? Signing on would take forever and then for some reason your computer would begin making noises that sounded like R2-D2 was having and asthma attack while you waited patiently for that happy little guy to say “You’ve Got Mail!” The worst part of it was that it seemed like every time you would finally get to 99% connected point some jerk in another room would accidently pick up the phone and cancel your connection.

I think that there are seasons in our lives that feel like our prayers travel through a dial up connection.

I have noticed, that when things aren’t going the way we would like them to, we question our connection first. We always doubt our ability to hear from God and His ability to speak to us.

This isn’t new, it happened way back in the garden.

In Genesis we find two people who have a closer walk with God than anyone has ever had since, with the exception of maybe Jesus. The Bible says that God would actually walk with them in the garden and speak to them. There was no sin or death that could get in the way of their relationship and they could communicate freely at anytime they wanted. Nothing could interfere with their relationship.

Then comes this dumb serpent who tries to mess everything up. He says to Eve, “Did God really say ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”₁

Notice that the serpent didn’t try and attack the logic of God’s command, try and prove it wrong or convince her that his idea was better. The serpent questioned Eve’s ability to hear from God and she fell for it. We do this all the time.  Life gets hard and God tells us something that doesn’t make sense at the time so we question our ability to have heard from Him correctly. We forget how long we have been in this journey with God and we forget how many times we have heard directly from Him.We forget how well we know His voice.

Eve was so deceived into believing the serpent heard God more clearly that she completely forgot that is was she who used to walk with God. How could that serpent know what God told her, he wasn’t there! The enemy wasn’t there when you heard from God, in that moment where you broke down, humbled before God and He wrapped you in His arms and began whispering dreams and purpose into your heart. He wasn’t there when you decided to give God everything and have an actual relationship with Him.

Satan attacks what he is most jealous of.

He used to be able to go to God whenever he wanted. He used to be able to sit at his feet and worship Him. He used to be able to hear from Him, but he threw it all away. Now he has to convince us that we can’t hear from Him.

Ever find it funny how many times we go through things and wonder if we are even saved? That no matter how long we have known God and seen Him move, whenever we mess up or are just confused we always question our salvation?

I think it is time that we remind Satan that He wasn’t there when that preacher or Sunday school teacher gave that altar call that drove you to your knees and compelled you to give everything over to God  for the first time. He wasn’t there when you were rolling around in the dirt of your past and a hand came down from heaven to pick you up, wipe you off and give you a new name. How could he possibly know what you and God had a private conversation about? He isn’t in the loop, don’t let him convince you he is.

There is nothing wrong with our connection.

I’m tired of seasoned Christians asking themselves if they were sure they heard from God when they began dreaming of the impossible or wondering if they will still make it into heaven after they made a little mistake.

In Ephesians Paul talks about the armor of God and starts with what he calls the “Helmet of Salvation.” People wear helmets to protect their heads. They are pretty important.

I think the reason Paul calls Salvation the helmet is because that needs to be what guards our thoughts. Everything that comes into our mind needs to go through the filter of the knowledge that we are saved and have a real, tangible relationship with a real, tangible God. We hear from God and our helmet covers our ears so that we can’t hear from anybody who tells us otherwise.

When we pray, God hears us. When He speaks, we hear Him.

Let God remind you that you know what His voice sounds like and that He knows what yours sounds like and there is nothing wrong with your connection.

Let your prayer life be in 4G.

 

1-Genesis 3:1 (NIV)