This past Tuesday I was at work, working in customer service. I thought I would just have a normal shift, nothing out of the ordinary. But you see, God works in mysterious ways. I’ll explain…
I was behind the desk, assisting a customer, while the lady before me was finishing up her shift. A line had started to form and one of the phones began to ring incessantly. I immediately became frustrated. You see, with this brain injury, I find that I don’t deal well with processing much going on at once. So, the lady before me is trying to explain something to me, I’m working with a customer, there are two other customers forming a line, and the phone to my right is ringing, and ringing, and ringing. I finished up with my customer and then I went to answer the phone. I picked it up very quickly, said “Hello?” “Hello?” “Hello!?” Nothing. All I could hear on the other end was the rustling of the phone cord. I began to laugh and just hung up the phone. I ask the lady before me to repeat her instructions for me during my shift, and the phone begins to ring. I walk back over to answer it and it stops ringing. This time I had caught the ID and noticed it was coming from the office. I said “That’s it, I’m going to find out who keeps ringing this phone!!” My co-worker laughed at me, and I rushed from behind the desk, and stormed into the office. I surveyed the scene, didn’t see any phones off the hook. I went into my manager’s office and asked her what her extension was. She told me, and I looked down… Realizing her adorable 18 month old was in her lap! Then I looked at the phone in her little hand. I immediately just bust out laughing. I was talking to the baby and I said “Well no wonder you didn’t say anything, you can’t talk yet!!” She smiled at me and I just couldn’t even be mad. I told my manager “Your child has been calling customer service for about 10 minutes now! I was getting annoyed out there so I had to come see what was going on!” We both laughed and she apologized saying “I’m sorry, I didn’t even know she was playing with the phone!” I said “That’s okay! I was just coming in here to see what was going on.” We both laughed, the baby smiled at me again, and I walked out.
When I got back behind the desk, I told my co-worker she was free to go and explained that the phone culprit was just a small child who was having fun on the phone, with no idea of what she was doing. We laughed for a couple of minutes. It was just too funny. As things calmed down, I began to think…
“What if God works that way?”
What if God tries to get our attention through His Son, constantly ringing our proverbial phones, just so maybe we might check Him out? I mean if you really think about it, I’m sure you can pinpoint some times where you know He was trying to get your attention, but you were too distracted elsewhere to lend Him the attention He desires from each of us. He probably kept finding a way to “ring your phone” until you finally got so frustrated, you just went to see what all of the fuss was about! Then you found the surprise. See… Sometimes He pursues us in blatantly obvious ways, and sometimes He prefers a more subdued approach. What if all He wants is our attention, so He’ll go any avenue to get it?
Have you ever finally decided to answer that ringing in your heart, only to pick up the phone and hear nothing on the other end of the phone line? If you have, I bet you became frustrated much like I did at work the other afternoon. I was so tired of this sound trying to get my attention when it was clearly already occupied by the customers in front of me (or the world around you having your attention distracted), but it pushed me enough to get me to find the source of it all. When I did, I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe that’s how God works. Maybe all He wants is for us to answer His Son’s calls and just go to check Him out when we find that we can’t hear anything. Then, maybe when/if we take that step, we’ll be pleasantly surprised at what we find on the other end of that phone line.
Haha… I don’t know why I thought of it this way, or why I even felt the need to write about it, I just thought it had a different meaning than some ordinary, everyday thing. Then again, I’m the type to attribute much meaning to many things in life, often. Nearly losing your life will make you rethink how you see your life and how you want to live it. Everything gains significance. Same thing in my spiritual life and walk with God. He has used so many things to get my attention, and now that He has it, He gives me little glimpses into who He is, and how He works. He knows I question Him, how He is who He is, why He is the way He is. He knows my inquisitive mind, my passionate heart. He created them both. He knows I’ll forever question His goodness and His nature. He knows I’m forever a student, regardless of whether or not I’m in a classroom setting. He knows. He always knows, and He knows just how to get our attention. How blessed are we, that He will cater His approach to us. How blessed are we, that He doesn’t have a “one size fits all approach.” How blessed are we, that He even cares to cater to our specific personalities in pursuit of us! He’s that awesome of a God, and we are so incredibly blessed that He cares and loves us this much. I guess, I just want to encourage you to answer that proverbial phone ringing in the ears of your heart. Haha… I know that’s worded in a funny way, but I speak in metaphors a lot. I think you may understand since I related it to a real life situation… But anyway, if you’ve been hearing Him dialing you up, and you’ve been trying to ignore the phone ringing because of the distractions around you, just give it a try. Pick up the phone, and say hello. If you don’t hear anything, go check it out deeper. Go into the office (the church) and seek this mysterious caller. He wants your heart. He’ll do anything to get it.
The title of this post came to mind when I wasn’t sure how to title this post. It’s also a wonderful, 365 day devotional that I read. I began to read it sometime in March during a moment of deep desperation and sadness, and it has offered me much insight, assurance, comfort, peace, and hope. I encourage you to check it out if you think it might be something you’re interested in. Jesus Calling is written by Sarah Young, and you can find it by clicking on the link. It will take you to Amazon. You can browse around on there and if you think it may be something you’d like, you should order it! Also, if you’re a smart phone user, there is also a Jesus Calling app! I use Android, and I know there is a trial version that gives you 7 days of a trial of the app before you purchase. If you choose to purchase the full app, I believe it costs $9.99 in USD. So feel free to check that out, too!
Anyway, I hope that all of y’all are doing well in your lives. Just wanted to share this little… Story/epiphany with y’all. Thinking maybe someone needs to hear it. I’m doing alright, still taking it one day at a time, learning to trust on Him through everything going on around me. It isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it. :) As always, thanks for stopping by, and be blessed!!
Faith, by fire. 