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I first published this blog in May 2021, at the height of Covid quarantine. I'm reposting it now because it's every bit as timely today and as it happens, my own church launched a new sermon series for January 2022 entitled "Divine Resets." As I believe in "God-incidences," this seems like a new year's nudge. Enjoy...and please like, share, and comment!
Happy New Year! Grace, Isabella
Sometimes, what looks like a catastrophe or lousy timing is actually God handing us a perfect opportunity for a reboot or hard reset. Tech offers an apt analogy.
My desktop, laptop, iPad and cellphone all have a nifty feature that sure comes in handy at times: the reboot or its more radical kin, the hard reset. Every so often, I'll do something to torment my tech. I push it to its limits, make a catastrophic user error, expect something it cannot do, or suffer from some baffling mystery of circuitry or broadband. In protest, my device screeches to a halt, glitches in overwhelm or otherwise goes to hell in a hand basket.
I can sometimes shift-alt-delete out of a jam or failing that, reboot to a formerly harmonious state. If it's really messed-up, I can do a hard reset to restore it to its factory settings or an earlier, pristine pre-mess-up condition, though usually with some admitted losses. I find life can be like that. Crises, like the Pandemic, can be a catalyst or accelerator for our human reboots. Fresh starts helped along by stuff that seems bad, but is actually the gateway to something better.
When Your System Crashes
Having been through a few soft- and hardware fails, it's taken me an unusually long time to learn when a hard-reset is the best option. I have an unnaturally high pain threshold and the kind of stick-to-it-tivenness that prolongs the misery that is hours on the phone with tech support after the long wheel-spinning of trying to sort it out myself, another liability when you lack expertise. I've learned a lot about when to cut my losses, but only having suffered quite a few losses to earn my hard-earned wisdom.
Malware
I've rationalized problems and willfully ignored and obliviously denied issues I didn't want to face, living with the dis-ease of knowing something wasn't right, but feeling powerless to fix it. Returning to the safety of my IT metaphor, I've both tolerated the pesky little bugs that slowed me down and the paralyzing problems that altogether prevented me from functioning. Then, when I finally had the wherewithal, focus and patience, the solution came with astonishing ease. When it was time.
Providential Punctuality
And that's my certain conviction today and what I hope will be the happy takeaway for somebody whose finger is hovering over the reset button. The long awaited and sought-after hard reset I'm undertaking now is unfolding in Divine timing. The people, power and perspective are showing up right on time. It's gentle, un-rushed, certain and true. God was working even when I thought I was twiddling my thumbs or barreling down the wrong path. He made use of it all to shape me along the way.
I can cast aside regret at the time wasted or losses suffered confident that nothing in God's economy is wasted. He uses even my worst user errors to get me where he wanted me along. Each little chip, circuit and wire has a vital function that integrated into the elegantly puzzling motherboard. The dastardly distractions, delays and detours were all wired into my circuitry to produce the intended result, with plenty of room to upgrade for growth. And now that I've worn this metaphor out, let me say that this process is best undertaken with the caring and conscientious support of the engineer of it all. He knows our mainframe, if you will, and is certified in our operating system.(Gag me, I think I've really had it with this analogy.)
Alright, inspiration for this morning is clearly now spent and it's time to start my day. Until next time, I hope you'll consider if the Pandemic is your new beginning in disguise (see my recent message on the topic here).
Remember: God loves you no matter what.
Hugs in a hazmat, Isabella.