Short Curcuit

Last week I had a few minutes to do some chores around the house. One of my list items was changing some light bulbs and fixing a light switch. When I got to the light switch I connected it the way I knew it was supposed to be connected, but it didn't work. I reversed the wires. I tried a different switch. I finally went to the hardware store and bought a new switch. None of these efforts made any difference; the light still did not come on. I finally got the 'bright idea' to check the bulbs in the fixtures. When I did, guess what I found? Of course, they were burned out. I replaced the bulbs and the fix miraculously worked.

After replacing the other bulbs in the house that were burned out, I started thinking how frustrating it can be for us when we feel disconnected from God. When we go to flip the switch and it seems like nothing is happening. We try the switch. We try the bulb. And still...nothing. It seems as if there is a short circuit in our flow of electricity to and from God.

I supposed you are waiting for the 'punch line' of the fix. What is the solution. Can I just do something as easy as change a light bulb and fix everything? Can I just go to the hardware store and buy something new to complete the circuit again? Sometimes the answer is as easy as connecting to God again. We cannot expect to flip a switch after months of non-useand have everything right again. So, we need to repair the connection by spending time with Him for no selfish reason and prepare to listen as much as we talk.

Sometimes, however, there is no problem at all. There is no disconnect. There is no short circuit. Elijah prayed seven times before a cloud the size of a man's hand finally appeared on the horizon and God brought the rain after a three year drought. God heard him the first time, so why didn't He answer him? I don't know. Elijah didn't know. God knew, but He didn't say. The point is Elijah kept praying until he received an answer. Of course the rain was something that God promised He would send too.

I don't know why there seems to be a short circuit between us and God sometimes. All I know is that the Bible always promises that God hears us! And the Bible promises that God works according to His will and purpose and not ours. When we know God has promised something we can be assured He will answer the way we expect. But, God's hands are not tied to answer our prayers the way we think He should.

Know this; God hears our prayers and is faithful to answer. We may not always hear Him. We may not always see the answer. But 'faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.' Not the assurance of things that have already come to pass and the conviction of things we see.

Pray and have faith!