What Is in Your Queue?
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
I am technology challenged! If placement were involved based on my knowledge of gadgets, I would be near the end of the line. In my simplistic approach, I want to turn it on, save my work properly and print it successfully. That is not too much to ask for, is it?
My blood begins to heat up, my heart rate quickens, and I get flushed in the face when my least favorite comment appears across my screen. “Printing error. Your printer is offline.” You might as well tell me the sky is falling in! It always seems to happen when I need things in a hurry.
Today I looked in the printer queue and I had 27 unprinted things. I deleted them all. I don’t even remember what they were. Our minds are as complex as today’s technology, yet I can become irate at an inanimate object.
I sat back and thought about this situation and began to wonder what had been in there waiting to come out. Is my faith like that? Are important things stuck in my queue? What went wrong? How can we eliminate the pile up of information?
Looking back on some of my recent encounters, I know that I have missed opportunities to say things, bless others and help. Unable to move thoughts from heart to head to mouth to hands is a huge problem for many of us. When we open our mouths to speak, out comes some weird stuff that barely makes sense.
Perhaps it’s better to deal with things immediately with words of encouragement, prayers, and sharing in life’s joys and sorrows. If we wait too long, the moment has passed as well as the chance to hug someone’s heart.
God brings situations into our lives everyday in which a smile or a kind word might make a difference. We must be alert and not allow our words and actions to get stuck in our spiritual queue. It blesses no one—including us—if we do not take some kind of action. Most of us don’t even think about it, but we bless God when we reach out and hug someone’s heart. He smiles!
Father God, thank You for showing us how to unclutter our lives. Your Word is so direct and vital to us and to others. Teach us to seize each opportunity You provide. AMEN.