Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

“If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[c] in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

–          John 14:15-27

 

The other night, I was exhausted.  I had gotten up early to read e-mail, do my devotions, etc. before I ran off to the hospital to be with my wife.  Once home, I had a lot to do and the phone started ringing.  As I slipped into bed late, I checked my tablet.  I noticed that I had not finished the social aspects of a game that I was playing while at the hospital.  Hey, you must do things while your spouse sleeps.  A voice said that I needed to sleep, but I thought, “It is only 20 minutes.”

 

The following morning, I woke up and saw that the game that had ended my day had an unscheduled update available the next morning.  I clicked on update.  Why not?  Updates meant useful prizes within the game.

 

But when I opened the app, it got so far in loading, but the game locked up.  I tried several times, but the app (as they call it these days) was dead.  Then the voice asked, “How much time do you spend playing that game?”  At least the voice said ‘spend’ rather than ‘waste’.

 

Then my conscious brain took over.  “You take about an hour on the social aspects and up to 2 hours playing the game.  Not playing the game did not give me 2 or 3 hours more for work each day.  I usually did all three hours while watching television or other mindless activities.  But then I remembered what the voice had said the night before.  I should have gone to bed.

 

I mentioned in a post a few days ago that we need to learn how to turn off our devices and listen to God.  I did not practice what I preach.  The game that had been my favorite for two years will not run.  It is possible that the glitch in the download will be fixed in the next update, but God got my attention.  I did not listen to God when He knew what was best for me.  The game dying was not punishment, just a gentle reminder.

 

I think it appropriate that I am writing this draft using the tablet while my wife is watching television in her hospital room.  I can do other things with the electronic device while the television is running other than play a game.  It is slow holding the tablet in one hand and only using my index finger to type.  It is so slow that I can follow the plot line of the television show that I would rather not watch while typing.  I will let you be the judge if this post is coherent.

 

Christians talk about God giving us all that we need, but in this story, God gave me advice and I did not listen.  The next day, the game died.  I believe that God again was giving me good advice when the game died.  “Let it go.”  The game was a free download, and play was free unless you wanted to pay for boosters.  The boosters could be earned.  I had earned boosters instead of buying.  I had never paid a penny.  The social aspects of the game revolved around giving gifts and helping others. When you gain a reputation of giving good gifts, you get good gifts in return.  But I knew all that already.  God let me know that it is now time to move on.

 

Praise the Lord.

 

I lost nothing and grew in understanding.  I lost a game, but I also lost the desire to reload the game or a similar game.

 

I already maintained and managed my work load.  Now I have more free time.  And I am very excited to learn what God is going to do with that time.

 

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.