Nothing Works

Technology – you can’t live with it and you can’t live without it. For instance, cell phones. Who hasn’t faced some degree of frustration with this fabulous little tool? Bob and I recently “upgraded” our Sprint phones for newer, snazzier, app-loaded, email friendly, rebate-ready phones. Exciting, right?

Wrong. For over a month we’ve battled “nationwide cell-tower” issues that prevent Bob from hearing incoming calls on his phone, his calendar doesn’t sync, and we’ve both experienced an usual increase in dropped calls. You’ve been there, I know. In addition to these more than frustrating inconveniences, my new android malfunctions on almost every level – I’ll spare you the gnarly details. I’ve visited my nearby Sprint store, and Jeff the manager, regularly. He understands the phone is a tool more than a toy (I wish I had an iPhone), and has tried valiantly to rectify the problem. I talked (calmly) with a woman in the “retention” department yesterday to see if I can simply exchange the faulty phone. For $35.00 she says, they’ll send me a refurbished replica, and they’ll waive the fee. Why would I want a “refurbished” phone? Sigh.

This got me thinking. A few years ago Bob and I celebrated our 25th anniversary – hooray for us!  To celebrate we “dressed up” my wedding ring and had it reset. It’s beautiful. How was I supposed to know that I’m allergic to platinum?

Many years ago my mom passed away (she was a great mom, by the way) and she left me her Rolex watch. “Ooo, nice,” you say. It has never, in 22 years, worked well. We’ve spent quite a bit of money on repairs, and, still, it doesn’t keep time. What’s wrong with the watch, and what’s wrong with the guys who charge all the money to only make the problem worse?

Did I sigh already?

I find myself fighting a strong sense of entitlement. “I pay good money for Sprint’s service every month, I’m justified in requesting a phone that works, a strong signal, and properly functioning towers. My work is important.” (Did I say I wish I had an iPhone?) Or, ” My wedding ring is a symbol of our vows and commitment, I wonder, “Why is this happening? Don’t I have the right to enjoy my ring?” And, the watch. I love it because it was my mom’s and it reminds me of her. Surely, surely I deserve a quality repair and a properly functioning timepiece.

If you’re at all like me, you struggle with stuff like this too. When we let these feelings and thoughts go, they take over. We start to demand our rights everywhere we turn, nothing satisfies, and we become bitter in our soul. The darkness of our heart is exposed. I know from first-hand experience.

In the midst of this phone setback I’ve been reminded that nothing earthy satisfies, yet an unquenchable thirst forces us to keep looking. We search and search for happiness and fulfillment, the perfect phone (I still think it’s an iPhone), the perfect home, the perfect spouse.Yada yada yada. It’s a cyclical-cycle on a road to nowhere.

Jesus said to a five-times divorced, clearly unsatisfied, still-searching-for-the-right-guy woman, “Everyone who drinks of this water (from the well) shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:12-14). In Him the relentless thirst is quenched. At His feet we find grace, forgiveness, strength, protection, and hope – a hope that never disappoints.

I honestly found this to be true this week. Each time I cried out to Him regarding my phone woes, He was there. He gave me His patience in the moment (otherwise my phone would be at the bottom of the murky pond out back.) When I yielded I found peace, and when I didn’t I found forgiveness.  For some unimaginable reason, Jesus cares about us in our dealings with phones, rings, watches; homes, husbands, finances. He uses it all to draw us back. He invites us to drink from the water that always satisfies.

 

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