Somewhere along the line the connection got lost. There could be any number of reasons why, weather, an electrical blip, software issue, or just the old internet gremlins. But for some reason during our Wednesday evening bible study last night our computer lost its connection with the internet. 24 minutes into the lesson, when things were just really starting to get going, there was a glitch and we were offline. Unfortunately, we didn’t notice it until after bible study was over. Fortunately, we do record and back up everything locally so we will be uploading that bible study in just a little while in its entirety.
But as I sat here this morning checking the backup and making sure that we had the full study recorded I was thinking about how easy it is to sometimes loose our connections. I saw a friend of mine on the internet recently. I had worked with him for almost 20 years back in the day. He had commented on one of my posts and when I saw the name I did what we all do, hopped over onto his profile page to see what he’d been up to. Then it hit me. We had worked closely together for almost 2 decades, but now we hadn’t seen or talked in almost another 2 decades.
I was shocked to see that he was retired, had grandkids in high school and had lost most of his hair! And I thought to myself, “Man, when did he get old?” Then I remembered we were the same age. And yes, I’ve got a grandson going into high school next year, I’m not retired but what hair I have that hasn’t turned loose has turned gray. But somewhere over the course of time, life carried on and we lost touch. The connection was gone, except for an occasional thumbs up on social media.
Loosing connections with people through life is common. And, like loosing the internet last night it can happen for any number of reasons. Job changes, moves, just the busyness of life. But there is one connection that we need to guard with all that we have, and that is our connection to God. Because believe it or not, that connection just like so many others can slip away if we don’t continually nurture it. Now don’t misunderstand me, God doesn’t go anywhere, but sometimes we do.
The bible is filled with people who became so busy with their lives they lost connection with the One who gave them that life. Many of them didn’t intentionally set out to lose that connection, they just got busy, life piled in and, well, they just forgot about God. There is a great story in the Old Testament about the people of Israel returning to Jerusalem after they had been dragged away in captivity years before. When they returned home the city was in shambles, the temple had been destroyed. The people were happy to be home and began to rebuild the temple of God.
But, as things would work out, they also began rebuilding their own homes as well. I’ll let you guess which homes became the priority for the people. You got it, their own. And before long all the work on the temple had stopped while everyone rebuilt their own homes and forgot about God. For years the temple sat unfinished. That is until God said:
“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
(Haggai 1:4)
In the business of building their lives, they forgot about the one who gave them that life. It wasn’t that they didn’t love God, it was just that they got so busy with their own stuff they lost their connection to Him. The world is filled with distractions that Satan uses quite efficiently to sever our connection with the Creator. And sometimes we don’t even realize it and run right along thinking all is good.
When the connection to the internet was lost with our system last night all looked well on the computer screen. The cameras were still working, the recording was still working, but all of that was internal, the connection to the external, where the real power was had been lost. And without that the system wasn’t working to the potential it was designed for. And the same goes for us, if we lose connection to the power, God, we can’t be working to the potential we were designed for.
Maybe you remember the story in the book of Luke of the two sisters Martha and Mary. Jesus came to their house for dinner and Martha, understandably so, is nervous and working herself to death to make sure everything is perfect for her guest. Mary on the other hand doesn’t lift a finger but sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to Him teach. When Martha sees her sister doing nothing to help with the dinner she tries to enlist Jesus to get Mary up and get her busy.
She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
(Luke 10:40)
Jesus’ response to Martha’s request is classic.
“Martha , Martha ,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:41-42)
Two sisters, both with Jesus close by, one connected and one not. It wasn’t that Martha didn’t love Jesus, it wasn’t that she was doing anything really wrong, it was just that in the rush of taking care of what she thought was important she lost connection to Him.
Maybe you feel like you’ve lost your connection to Him. Well, as I said earlier, He doesn’t go anywhere, we do. It’s never too late to get plugged back in. Take a breath, take a step back, readjust your priorities and get plugged back in. Then stay connected.
“Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
(Deuteronomy 4:9)