Connected

 “But in my distress, I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”  Psalm 18:5 NLT

 

How do you stay connected to those you know?

 

In this social-media, ever present, lightning fast world—how do you connect to others?

 

We have email, snail-mail, text and talk. We have telegrams and Instagram, live-chats and Snap-chat, and everything in between.

 

We want connection, and we want it instantly.

 

Take for example how Raye and I chat sometimes.  If I see she is online, I’ll check  to see if she is there and then eagerly sit and wait for that important note on my screen, “Raye is typing...”   I know we’re about to connect.

Are we to be blamed then when we expect our connection with God to be any different?

 

I want God to answer me in seconds…no, make those milliseconds! How about you?

 

If I ask, I want an answer.  If I seek, I want to see.  Not as a spoiled child, but one who has come to expect instant connection with a God who has promised He hears.

 

Certainly I don’t expect God to jump when I snap my fingers, but if we’re being completely honest here, don’t we want an answer pretty lickety-split?  I can handle the “no’s” and “not now’s”, if that is what He chooses, but why can’t I have the answer right when I ask?

 

If we look close enough, maybe we do get an instant response.

 

May I share a quick case in point?

 

I was brought to my knees a few weeks ago after heaviness rained down upon me.  I spent a few days seriously on my knees in complete prayer with waves of tears in between.  During that time, I cried out—“God, I need you now. God what do I do?”

 

Each time I cried out, I wanted an immediate answer.

I wanted a text to come through.

I wanted to see the words on the screen, “God is typing...”

 

And none of those happened.

…If I was looking for an earthly way of God’s response.

 

But God is much bigger than a text.  He is much more astute than keeping me on speed dial.  He has an operating system much more advance than an Apple.

 

God did respond.  He truly did.

 

In my tears, I heard the prompting, “Trust me.”

 

That was all.  Nothing more.  No sentence structure, no paragraphs, no back and forth—just the simple words of “Trust Me.”

 

I heard them loud and clear.

 

So I decided I would.

 

Eventually the phone rang.  Raye wanted to “chat”, but instead heard me pour my heart out to her.  And you know what she told me? “Trust Him!”   (I’m not making this up.)

 

Our God does respond to our cries.

 

Our God does do Instant Messaging.

 

He speaks to us in the promptings.

 

Oh my dear ones, if you are facing a giant right now and are wondering why God isn’t answering, may I reassure you that He may in fact be?

 

Listen for that prompting.  Look what happens around you. Hear what others tell you if you seek Godly advice.  THAT is how God responds to our cries.

 

I don’t know if He’ll heal the disease, or return a prodigal, or repair the relationship—those are the answering of prayers—but I can assure you He will answer your cry if you will listen.

 

Sometimes the soft words simply say, Trust Me.  Sometimes they say, Forgive the other. Sometimes they say, Work on yourself.  And sometimes there are no words, but merely a peace in the midst of a storm.

 

I think we have confused unanswered prayers, with God not hearing our cries.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.

 

God always answers our cries; He just may not answer our prayers.

 

Never stop crying out. Never stop asking Him to reveal Himself.  Never stop waiting for a return response—because He will—in His way, not ours.

 

He’s on the line responding—are you listening?