It’s a privilege living in northern Michigan. We enjoy beautiful scenery everywhere we look. Opportunities are numerous for outdoor activities like biking, hiking, swimming and more. We also enjoy several beautiful state parks nearby. There’s also Higgins Lake, which is the best place we know of for swimming and boating. We try to enjoy the parks and especially Higgins Lake as much as possible during summer months.
Surrounded by beautiful wilderness you might think we’re a bit removed from technology, but that’s not true. We have all the technology we need and some we don’t. I’ve always been the biggest geek in my family and it’s paid off because technology has become a great tool for ministry.
But one morning a few years ago while reading my email I discovered I’d lost my internet connection. I wasn’t too surprised, it happend occasionally, and usually I’d regain my connection in a few minutes. But not that day. I couldn’t connect to the internet for several hours. What was also unusual was that my cell phone wasn’t receiving a signal.
With both services down there had to be a major interruption somewhere in the system. I figured a utility worker down state had dug into a major communications line or something.
It’s interesting what happens when you lose your connection to the things you rely on. You quickly discover just how important they are to you. That’s how it was that day with our electronic communications.
I’ve also discovered that it’s very much the same for my fellowship with God.
You can loose your fellowship with God when you allow sin to go unconfessed in your life, when you neglect reading His Word and when you fail to talk to Him in prayer.
When I do that I’m miserable. And it’s because I’ve lost an important connection.
For followers of Christ, keeping those lines of communication open is so important. You need to be quick to confess sin, you need to talk to God in prayer and you need Him talking to you through His Word.
Our internet and cell phone connections eventually came back that day. But not after several hours of being disconnected.
We learned later, on the evening news, that a beaver had chewed through a major communications line knocking out services to thousands of homes and businesses.
Here in the north Country the wilderness is stunning and the wildlife unpredictable. Some lost connections you have no control over, but your connection with God is something you can control.
Don’t allow busy beavers in your life to knock out your communication with God.
Photo by: finchlake2000 (Creative Commons)