As I was typing one morning, I looked up at the screen and realized by all the scrambled letters, my hands had not been in the right position. I hit the delete button and all the mess disappeared and I began again.
I pondered on this. Wouldn’t it be great if life had a delete button? I didn’t like what happened last year, DELETE. I didn’t like what she said, DELETE. My childhood years were the pits, DELETE. I don’t like what my children are doing, DELETE. I don’t like all the sadness in the world, DELETE.
But upon further pondering, I came to the conclusion there is a reason God didn’t give us a delete button for our lives. What kind of relationship would we have with Him if we could always delete everything we didn’t like?
How would we know joy if there were no sorrow? How would we experience becoming strong if nothing made us weak? How would we understand forgiveness if there were never anything to forgive? How would we know victory if we never had anything to claim victory of? What would make us run to the Father and seek Him if there were nothing to run to Him for? How would we understand and appreciate the unconditional love from our Lord if we never experienced the other. Would we even acknowledge Him as Lord?
I think a relationship with the Father would be pretty emotionless, pretty lifeless, pretty pitiful if we owned a delete button to hit whenever we wanted. Would there even be a relationship?
When I think of my love for the Lord, I think of how He has rescued me, saved me, given me courage and boldness, restored and healed, infused me with His peace and joy, given me reasons for real praise. This all came about because of experiencing those time I would like to have had deleted.
Our relationship with Him, if any, would be very bland indeed. If there were no struggles, no pain, why would we even run to Him? Why would we seek Him out? How would we grow?
No, I believe He knew what He was doing when He didn’t make us a “life” delete button. God had something much better in mind for us than a cold, hard button. He gave us a warm, loving Savior.
“I have told you these things so you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
P.S. I sent this to my mom and she added to the devotional. Here is what she said:
For those of you who look at a keyboard all day and sometimes just need a break, want a devotional but don’t have one there at your desk, just look down at your keyboard. See the Pause/Break button? When you know Satan is attacking you and you’re upset, just Pause and ask God to Break Satan’s scheme.
See the Shift and Enter buttons? Sometimes we need to Shift our attitudes and Enter into God’s presence for renewal.
See the Escape button. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we have a way of Escaping the punishment we deserve.
And see the Home and End buttons. When our life Ends, we’ll be going Home. Halleluhah!
Thanks Mom! You all have just had your devotion for this moment.
10 comments:
Kristen:
I know you have a blanket ministry. Could you please go to my blog and see if you have anything that can help this family? I am making one for the parents, have one for the little girl, but they need a solid colored blanket for the young man. Thanks! I love your idea of a delete button!
Linked from Lynn's. Good post/devotional thought. And your mom's addition was great.
Good blog.
wb
Family Fountain
Such truth! We couldn't know joy without sorrow. And I'm learning to be strong because I realize that I am weak. All these things are what make my relationship with Jesus oh so sweet.
This was so inspiring! I LOVE your mom's addition. Unfortunately some people do go through life as if they have a delete button. They don't forgive people.. they delete them from their lives. They don't try to work out problems.. they hit delete and get a divorce. These are the ones who drift around.. never satisfied and never happy because they have DELETED themselves out of a relationship with God. Great post Kristin.. as always!
Inspiring post, Kristin! Loved it! And loved your mom's addition. Clever! Blessings to you both!
It's a good thing I don't have a delete button. There wouldn't be much left of my my life if all the mistakes, rotten choices, messed up relationships, and bad stuff had been deleted. In fact, none of the good would be there if it weren't for going through all that .. . let's call it what it is. . . crap! I'm not sure there is a crap button on my keyboard. But the most amazing thing I've learned in life is that the Lord keeps pouring out His grace. The more I mess up, the more grace keeps coming. And He takes the years the locusts have eaten ---- all those wasted years ---- and turns them into trophies and things that are so usable in the life of another. Delete usually means gone forever. The only thing that's been deleted in my life is my sin. The rest He uses for His glory. And Kristin? I can't wait til Tuesday!
PS: And please tell your Mom that I'll never look at my keyboard the same again!
Oh boy, don't we think we'd have it all figured out if we had our very own delete buttons. . . or even an "easy" button. Praise God that He knows best and it's our job to trust Him. If we never had a need, how would we know how to say thank you when God provides? Wonderful post, Kristin.
Thank you ladies :)
And Cora, you make me laugh. My Sunday School teacher likes to use the word crap too :)
Isn't it wonderful we've been give a Savior who forgives, teaches, guides, and loves us through the "crap" and the good times. We are so blessed!
Kristin,
I'm sorry that I am a "little late" to reading and responding to your post.
When I read your analogy about the delete button, it made me think of something else - if something is deleted, it is gone, EVERYTHING is gone, and unable to be retrieved. So, if we kept deleting things in our live here and there, eventually, we might not have anything left that would be worthwhile. Maybe this is another reason that God did not give us a life "delete" button.
At any rate, these were some good thoughts. I especially liked your Mom's wisdom as well. :)
Blessings,
-L. Rose
Post a Comment