All Systems Are Down
I hadn’t looked forward to the day as it was, primarily because I knew half the morning, maybe more, would have me sitting in the waiting room at the auto dealership while they looked at Brenda’s RAV4. I love Toyotas. I’ve owned nine so far and someday I’ll own another Celica. An old one. In great shape. One of the reasons I’m so fond of Toyota is that they tend to avoid mechanics and repair shops. They’re reliable and economical to own. But now and then things go wrong, machines that they are, and Monday was my turn to sit and wait while they fixed the shifting problem it had.
“Has”, that should be. Present tense. Half an hour after my arrival something happened and many of us in Nebraska, Wyoming and Northeastern Colorado lost internet access without warning, including the service bay where my wife’s RAV was sitting. “Can’t do anything when the computers are down,” the tech informed me. “We’ll wait a little bit and see how soon we’re back up and running.”
Nothing improved. “All systems are still down. Maybe I can have them tell me what work-arounds there might be.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket. “No service. Are you KIDDING me?”
All the communication and tasks we’d delegated to computers and cell phones came to a dead halt Monday morning. Diagnosis, repair, dialogue, billing, receiving, you name it; if a computer or wireless phone was involved you waited. They sent me home Monday. Problem un-diagnosed and un-solved. No transactions on the books, no record of my being there since the transaction was lost when the computers went down.
Gingerly driving home, trying not to damage whatever it is any more than it was, a comforting thought came to me: God doesn’t use computers. Or cell phones. He’s never had a communication outage – and never will. When I call, He answers. When I cry out, He hears. Always. I’m never lost in Heaven’s queue, never turned away because systems are down.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
THAT’s something to rejoice in –
