Daily Devotional

Imagine, if you will, a world without instant communication. You could call locations such as homes and businesses, but not an individual person. Cell phones were not yet prevalent, and smart phones were nonexistent. I’m talking of course of the early 2000’s. Isn’t it amazing to think how much has changed in so little time? 2003 (a mere 19 years ago) was when I got my first cell phone and all it could do was make calls. I only had it because it was slightly more convenient than payphones, which at that time were everywhere.

As a kid, I remember having to call my friend’s house if I wanted to talk to him. Just as often as not, no one would be home (or they were screening their calls) and it would ring until the answer machine picked up. I would leave a message and assume that they would eventually get the message and return my call in a day or two. This type of delay in communication was normal, even expected.

As the technology of communication has advanced, so has the expected immediacy of communication. Now we call a person’s personal phone number, meaning that whether they are at home, at work, or somewhere else, we expect them to answer immediately. Text messaging has taken it a step farther. How many times have I texted someone, “I’m in line at Starbucks, want anything?” By doing so, I’m essentially expecting them to stop whatever they are doing, see my text, and immediately answer…all in the 2-3 minutes before I reach the counter.

Even though our level of access to each other has increased (for better or worse), there are still limits. If I ever see a text or phone call from my wife, I will answer no matter what I am doing; she has that level of access. But even that access has limits. If I’m sleeping, or absent-mindedly set my phone down somewhere, or if my phone dies because I forgot to charge it, her access to me is hindered.

We have a higher level of access to God than to anyone else because our access through Jesus Christ is always there. We can call to God at any point, and He will answer but that doesn’t mean the answer is exactly what we want or exactly the way we want. I can’t say I’ve ever audibly heard a response to my prayer, but I know that He always answers. The answer might be His peace that goes beyond understanding. The answer might be a verse recalled to memory. The answer might just be a reminder that He’s there and I’m not alone. No matter what we’re facing or what’s happening around us, God sees us, hears us, and responds.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.