When you consider what is truly indispensable, you might compare what addresses the critical issues in your life most effectively.
These days, the craze seems to be the high-tech rush to hold everything you might ever need in the palm of your hand. The answer at your fingertips is “I have an app for that.”
Before electronics existed, God had an application for what we truly need. Compared to today’s technology tools, He may seem a bit old-fashioned and far too intangible to satisfy the control freak/button pusher in each of us. Nonetheless, He reigns supreme in His ability to provide the answers to questions throughout the ages.
While you may now be able to reserve a table for dinner without dialing a telephone, you also hold the opportunity in your hands to reserve a spot for eternity. Which do you value more?
You can get directions to that restaurant without ever stopping to ask anyone. You also can hold in your hands the directions to life eternal with God. Which one will you spend more time with this week?
You can order in advance so that your meal is practically waiting for you once you’re seated. You can also have the table set and ready for you in eternity by using your hands to build up treasures in heaven. Which will get more of your attention this week?
Whatever attracts your attention, good or bad, God has an app for that. He has an application ready to launch when you fall into a period of self-pity. Consider the suffering and brutal murder of His Son, the free-will sacrifice of a blameless life in return for sins He didn’t commit.
God also has an easy-to-use tool for those who understand that all good things come from God. He calls that app giving and provides many options of people and causes to receive the support that advances God’s Kingdom here and now.
God has applications for peace and joy as well as for discord and grief. He has tools ready for you to apply to complex situations at work, at home and in relationships of all kinds. He can help with your marriage, with your growing children and with your team at the office.
Unlike Wall Street, Silicon Valley and the pundits, nothing that ever happens surprises God. No development on earth or in heaven would flummox or frustrate our Almighty Father. He watches with sadness as we fall to worldly temptations. In each and every case, He offers better alternatives that the wise choose and fools refuse.
Unlike machines from the high-tech manufacturers, God’s responses aren’t push-button fast. In fact, any delay in the expected positive impact of applying God’s tools is simply our perception, impatience and self-centeredness rather than God’s perfect timing.
It’s wise to remind ourselves periodically that these machines, handheld or laptop, wired or wireless, are all products of human design and engineering. Regardless of the collective genius involved in the process, we have yet to approach the intricacies and sheer processing speed of the human brain. God designed that level of intelligence.
Then there is divine intelligence. Isaiah tells us that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”
Perhaps the best technology available to us here on earth is the quiet time invested in getting to know our Creator and spending early morning moments with God.
Practice God’s presence throughout the day. Carry on a conversation that starts at rising and ends with your head hitting the pillow. Praise, adore, intercede for others and ask on your own behalf. Did you know that you can chat directly with the Lord without pushing a single button? That’s right: no texting required.
Oh, and since your hands will be empty because you don’t need a handheld computer or Smartphone for the app you’re seeking from God, go ahead and fold your hands. This communications technology is called prayer. There’s nothing better.
John Carroll is an author, consultant, executive coach and president of Unlimited Performance, Inc. in Mount Pleasant. Contact him at jcarroll@uperform.com.