“I live and breathe God; if things aren’t going well, hear things and be happy.” Psalm 34.2
Yesterday I made a bad choice, a really bad choice. Yesterday I tried to load a software upgrade on my notebook. In the end I spent most of two days and failed to recover. My technician spent another eight hours and now I am back near the beginning. Rebuilding is always fun!
In the middle of this crisis God gave me three fresh lessons.
First, I never realized how dependent I was on human technology. Without my computer, my immediate link with family and friends was gone. Without my computer, my sense of loneliness became increasingly overwhelming. In contrast, my God dependence grew from a quiet prayer for help to an overwhelming plea for comfort and presence.
Second, I didn’t meet my commitments. I clearly had reasons, a dead computer. In the end however I didn’t meet my commitments. So I presented my case to God. I laid the problem and waited. The answer became another lesson.
My commitments did not go away, nobody came to me to let me know I was not responsible or accountable. God did not answer my prayer in that way. God gave me peace of heart, a calm spirit, and a sense of confidence. Missed deadlines answered with a peaceful heart. Incredible!
Third, focus comes from doing without something that is a normal part of your daily routine. In the past I listened to talks on “fasting” without being able to correlate the meaning to anything concrete in my life. My brief attempts at doing without have not brought any significant experience until now. Going without a computer for three full days, almost exclusively doing without communicating and getting work done, focused all my energies. Fasting from the regular email contact and permeating presence of work gave me the chance to reflect and center myself fully on God. The days became lessons and experiences within themselves that I treasure.
Things didn’t go well, I remember God, and I am happy. Always remember this.
