Have you ever had something not so great happen, primarily due to your unintentional lack of paying attention to what’s going on around you? And as soon as that not so great thing occurs, you immediately think “I knew I shouldn’t have done that” followed by the overwhelming desire to kick yourself. Well, that recently occurred to me with a little gadget we all know as the iPhone. That’s right, I had a recent mishap with this little device, which seems to have become one of those things you just can’t live without…I mean, how many of you out there have your entire life on a little device that you can hold in your hand? Well, here’s my story…
One day as I was walking by the bathroom at work, I stepped in to grab some tissue. I noticed there was none next to the sink so I went into a bathroom stall to get some toilet paper. As I made a quick turn to leave, all of a sudden I hear this “ker plunk”. “OH MY GOODNESS!” I thought. That did not just happen! My precious iPhone slipped out of my pocket and went right into the toilet. Did I have to think about reaching in to fish it out? Absolutely not! There was no going back and forth about whether I would stick my hand in a public toilet and save this little thing that meant so much to me. Without a second thought, I rescued the very thing that has my life’s work & calendars, e-mails, pictures, music, notes…everything you could think of was on this little thing I could hold in my hand. And many of us think, what did we do without all this technology before?
So after washing my hands several times, I immediately found a friend who would know just what to do. After looking it over and instantly noticing several things were not going right, I began to think, “oh no…these phones do not have insurance on them!” I have heard the stories of people who have dropped their iPhones in water and they were not salvageable. Mine didn't just get dropped in water; it was submerged. We noticed my phone would not stay turned off. Every time we would try, it would turn itself back on. It doesn’t take a technology genius to know this is not good. So I did my best to dry my phone out and started thanking the Lord for fixing my phone.
Well, a couple weeks later, I noticed my screen pixels started going out. Could this be because of submerging my phone in water? I finally decided to take it to the Apple store to have it looked at. The tech person started looking at it and mentioning all the reasons this could be happening…one of which is dropping it in water. As he took my phone into the back of the store to run a test on it to see if it had any water damage, he mentioned to me that if it does it would be considered my out of pocket expense to fix. I did as any “smart” person would do and just smiled and said “Thank you.” Five minutes later, the tech walked back and said there does not appear to be any water damage to your phone so we will replace your screen for free. Wow! Thank You, Lord! I gratefully said “thank you” to this gentleman again and within 10 minutes walked out of the store with a new screen for my phone.
So, what’s the point of this story? Is it great that I got a new screen for my phone? Yes! Is it even better that an expert in iPhones says there is no water damage to my phone? Definitely! But as I was thinking back to this whole scenario today, the Lord reminded me how He has done the same thing for us.
Jesus gave His life and overcame sin and death for us. He made a way for every one of our imperfections and wrong doings of our human nature to be fixed and made right. Once we believe and receive the work He’s done for us, it is ours. It’s available to us all along, we just have to receive this free gift provided for us. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 says:
- Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.
He changes us and makes us a new person. It doesn’t matter what “mess” you are in or if your life seems so dirty that you can’t see a way out or if you can’t see how things can ever be right again. It doesn't matter if you made a wrong decision, you know one of those HUGE, life altering decisions that got you in the middle of a desert land and you don't know which way to turn to get out. It could be a wrong relationships you're in, slipping up with your kids, having no job and bills to pay, or something you've done that you feel like you can't tell anyone about. No matter what mistakes or wrong choices you have made, no matter what circumstances need to change in your life, God is always there for you no matter what and He wants to talk with you; He wants you to know that He loves you and is always there for you no matter what. It’s never too late for God to fix what’s wrong in your life. The most important you can know is that He loves you and wants to make everything right in your life. Just remember, you can't fix you. All it takes is making a decision to turn your will and your choices over to the Lord and let HIM fix what’s wrong. We were not created to carry the burden or care of anything.
- Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:7 AMP
So, take a look at your life. Does anything not seem right? Does it seem like the passion and excitement for life that you used to have, has become a little dull and dim (going out like the pixels on my phone), and you’re just going about each day hoping one day things will get better, one day things will change? If so, stop right where you are. Begin to thank the Lord for the good plans He has for you (Jeremiah 29:11). Thank Him for restoring your life and for making things right. Ask Him to show you what He wants you to do next and then do that. Don't become overwhelmed, thinking it will take too much to fix this. Just do what He's saying now and He will lead you every step of the way. He’s not hiding all these good things from you. He desires for you to know them ALL because He loves you and He wants the BEST for you. Seek Him in everything you do and discover all the wonderful things He has planned for you.
4 important lessons from today:
4 important lessons from today:
1. You are Loved
2. God’s got a good plan for your life
3. It's never too late with God
4. Don’t leave your iPhone in your pocket in the bathroom
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