Technical Difficulties?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart"

This past week I found myself increasingly frustrated with technical things around me that didn't work the way they were supposed to. In the scheme of things, most of them were not big issues:  the HD on the TV was acting up, the dishwasher was being funky, the drains in the tub and sink were slow as molasses...you get the picture. Mostly small inconveniences that were annoying.  But then there was this blog. For several days I would encounter a notice that the blog was down whenever I tried to post.  For me this was more than an inconvenience...it was cutting off a vital link with some folks I'm connected with.

Many of you that read this blog I've not met personally, and yet I feel a strong calling and connection to the ministry here. I believe God is doing something important through this blog, and through the community that is forming here.  So when this was shut down, my frustrations grew.  My apologies to all of you who came here and didn't get new messages and didn't know what was happening.  I didn't forget. I was fine.  I just couldn't post due to technical difficulties.

As I was percolating about this during the week, I was reminded of a lesson God taught me years ago.  On Friday, I was on my way to an important lunch at our kids' school.  As I came to the end of our road, the train crossing bars came down and the signal began to ring.  Frustrated, I put the car into park and waited.  It gave me a minute to remember...

About 10 years ago I was serving a congregation near here, and was at a Confirmation Camp meeting.  During the meeting my phone rang, and I put it on silence (an unusual thing, as I normally check to see if it was the church with an emergency). After talking with someone after the meeting ended I checked my phone to find out it was, indeed, an emergency.  A parishoner was taken to a hospital about an hour away, and it was critical.  I headed straight over to the hospital from the meeting, but wouldn't you know, I hit every single train stop on the way. (I live and was serving in a more rural area of the country)  Every...single...train!!!  And it wasn't a short stop, either.  They were long trains.  After the 8th train-- yes, I said 8th--  I was fit to be tied. I was berating myself for turning off the phone, I was feeling like something was holding me back from getting there, and was generally a wreck.  Finally, after 2 and 1/2 hours I reached the hospital. 

As I arrived at her bedside, the family told me she had just had a breathing treatment and could finally talk. We shared an important conversation for about 10 mintues, and then she was Life-flighted to a larger hospital.  As I walked to the elevator with the family, they shared with me that my timing to get there had been perfect. She hadn't been able to talk the whole time they were there, and they had just found out she was being transferred right before I got there. Those 10 minutes I spoke with her were the only ones in their whole time there that she was able to talk, and our visit had been useful in calming and reassuring her of God's care and presence.

Standing by that elevator I was humbled.  What I thought was my own, terrible mistake was God's perfect timing.  I was awed, and calmed to know that even when I thought things were completely fallling apart, God was gently guiding and using the circumstances to the best care of this woman and her family.

Ever since then, I've tried to remember this event, particularly when I'm running into "technical difficulties".  God has shown me again and again that the care and presence that God has promised comes in God's own best time... not mine.

Today, in the midst of minor (or even major) challenges, may we know God's loving, gentle, guiding hand and may we perhaps get the gift of seeing things in God's timing.

peace,
Andrea

Eternal God, may our hearts trust you today, especially if circumstances don't go as we plan.  Help us to see your loving hand and perfect timing amist our daily lives.  Amen.