Being Grateful For Issues

I am so very good at messing things up and making them as difficult as possible!

This morning, I was so excited that I had the opportunity to read my Bible and then write on what the Spirit showed me, but - as so often is the case - that isn't what happened. First, we have the stomach flu at our house again. All evening I was cleaning and disinfecting and even slept on the couch to both stay away from it (Kevin), and be available to the kids if they need me. Needless to say, I didn't wake up well this morning.

After getting Lauren off to school, I sat down to get the computer up and running since it takes a while to start up. (Not too bad, I suppose, but 8 minutes seems an eternity in our instant society, doesn't it?)  But there was a little pop-up in the corner about something being blocked during startup. That was my demise: I tried to fix it. FYI, if you don't know what you are doing with computers and there isn't someone living in your house who can fix your mistakes, don't click APPLY...


One little click took me two hours to figure out. Oh sure, it offered me all kinds of help options, but I had somehow disabled them all. There was the option of online help, but I had disabled the internet as well. How about calling technical support? I figured I'd just look it up.... online. Oh, yea. There is a drummer at our church who works at Dell in customer support and occasionally has "Chat Interaction of The Day..." on Facebook with stupid questions from customers. I just knew I was next.

I finally figured out enough to get the computer up and running, but I have somehow managed to take that 8 minute start up time to about 15. It's a skill...

So what does this have to do with God? Everything.

1. I did a lot a praying, 
2. I practiced patience, 
3. I realized how very little I know, 
4. I discovered a new appreciation for all that my computer has to start up in the 8, I mean 15, minutes it is starting up, 
5. I was reminded of the benefits of persistence even in seemingly overwhelming odds, 
6. and I remembered how important it is to have someone you can turn to if you get stuck. -Yea, David, I was about to call you :)

All these things are life principles, but they are also God's principles:

1. Praying? We always seem to run to God- as we should. Even those who don't "believe" when things get desperate enough. James 5:16
2. Patience is the fruit a long time in ripening, but I got a little closer today. Proverbs 16:32
3. It's always good to remember we don't know as much as we think we do. It keeps up humble before God. Job 38-40
4. Sometimes we just don't know why a person is behaving in a certain way. We don't know what they are experiencing, but God does, thus it is a good thing that He is our judge and not each other. Isaiah 11:3-4
5. We are often called to persevere in a hostile world: A world offended by the Gospel, but He is Faithful and True, and that's what counts. 1 Timothy 4:16
6. Thank God for my brothers and sisters in Christ I can go to for prayer, support, and teaching! Hebrews 3:13

I truly believe God can teach us anywhere and through anything as long as we remain in His Word regularly. That is what this blog is about. How well He reminded me of that this morning!