Life; an adventure, a journey with Jesus!

Keyboard reminders!

I spend a lot of time on the computer. I’m self-taught and need to learn a lot more, but I can get by. Typing documents and communicating is what I really do most of the time. Before the computer, I had one of those Selectric Typewriters with the metal ball in the center that whizzed around in circles placing the letters in order as I struck the keys. It had a correction key built in. Pretty cool after years with an electric typewriter and before that the old manual typewriter models on which I learned to type. Although the keyboards are ‘similar’ they definitely have changed over the last few decades.

Remember, no you couldn’t possibly remember. Well, many years ago there were typewriter erasers. They were pretty rough and you had to be very careful using them or you would tear the paper and then have to start typing the document all over again. Well, do you remember “white out” or some would call it “liquid paper”? Oh my goodness this was the best stuff to make corrections. But with both of these tools, you could always tell there was an original mistake being covered up!

Today we have: the backspace key, and better still, on some electronics the pause button; and even better than that we now have the delete key! We can easily retrace what we have done and fix it and no one knows except us. No doubt you and I both use these keys every day when we are using technology. Nice and convenient, aren’t they?

But today they got me to thinking…..what about in our everyday life as a Christian? What about the wonderful backspace key that we have available to us? The verse in Phillippians 4:6-7 “Don’t worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” I know I need to backup and pray more often than I do. It seems as though I use the backspace option when I’m overwhelmed, frustrated and I need God’s peace.

And, then the pause button; it allows me to stop, take a deep breath, and see what it is God is telling me? I think of the story in the Bible of Mary and Martha. The Lord said to Martha “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better” Many times I need to use that pause button and I don’t always do it! I often wonder what God is telling me, but I don’t pause long enough to hear what it is He is saying. And to think, the amount of time I spend on the computer regarding our ministry and our family….I just need to pause, take a break, not because I am weary of the work, but because the pause will give me the time to listen to what is being said.

Finally, the delete key reminds me of my need to consistently use this button in my walk with the Lord. Why? Because satan is constantly whispering to me what is not true. John 8:44 tells us “he (the devil/satan) was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” When we press the delete key, it removes what was once there. We must remove the presence of satan from our very thoughts and focus solely on our Heavenly Father Who will remain there with us every step of the way.

I look at these keys in a little different light today than I did a few weeks ago. In summary:
- The backspace key reminds me to return to praying about specific matters.
- The pause button tells me to take a break and listen to the Lord.
- The delete key is my way of remembering to get rid of the lies from satan.