“Make your life a prayer.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 TPT
My mom and I have recently gotten back into the habit of talking on the phone while I am out on a run. We swiftly trade back and forth in who is doing the talking or listening, based on the terrain, how long I’ve been running, and yes, of course, the content. There have certainly been many times in which I have done most of the talking and other times when I’ve been breathless and told her to just keep talking!
On a run in the mountains last week, I suddenly hit a dead spot mid story.
“Mom, are you there?”
Nothing.
“Hello?”
Silence.
I quickly picked up my pace, hoping to make my way through the dead zone and restore our connection before I missed too many details or before the call dropped completely.
“Mom, if you can hear me, hold on!”
Actually, it went more like this, “Don’t let go Jack!” as she and I often like to quote from Titanic when we encounter this problem.
Regardless, moments later, our connection was restored. We picked up the conversation near where it had left off, my pace slowed back down to a comfortable speed and we carried on.
Now, my mom is certainly not God and thankfully, we don’t have to be on a run nor wear headphones to be in conversation with Him, but have you ever gone through what feels like a dead zone with God?
Perhaps you’ve been silent, or more likely, you feel like God’s been silent and as a result, you’ve slowed your role.
You’ve felt disconnected. Your reception has been out of wack.
As I picked up the speed of my run to restore the connection with my mom, I wondered why we don’t do the same to restore our connection with God. So often, when the conversation feels silent, we stop talking. We grow weary and slow down. We stop seeking Him and His Word.
BUT WHAT IF WE RAN FASTER? What if we kept talking, listened more intently, and kept seeking Him no matter what.
In Matthew 22:19-20, we are given the great commission. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of age.”
It is one of the many places throughout scripture in which we are reassured that we are never alone. God is with us always. So when our connection is bad, it’s not that He’s walked away or taken a little vacation and honestly, I imagine that there is full coverage in heaven. 5g, full LTE, or whatever the best is these days.
So, perhaps it is on our end that the connection grows spotty. Perhaps we’ve wandered into a land with poor coverage or there is something near interfering with our reception.
A few days after my mom and I’s near dropped call, I had finished up another run when I pulled my phone out to turn the music off. It had been on the ‘do not disturb’ mode and I had a missed call from my mom. She followed with a text that read, “I was just calling to say hi and I love you.”
Turn off your ‘do not disturb’ mode with God. There are times that He will have much to say, and other times in which it may be as simple as, “Hi and I love you” or “Know that I am here and that you are loved.”
Oh, how often those few words, rooted in Truth, could turn our days around.
If you feel disconnected today, I want to encourage you to RUN towards God. Open His Word. Incline your ear in your breathlessness. Don’t stop talking. He is there. May there be moments of silence? Yes. But just as my mom remained on the line in the dead zone, God will never hang up.
Do what it takes to restore your connection.
