Words to ponder
"…the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words" (Romans 8.26).
I served as a combat communications officer in the military. It was an honor, and I feel blessed to have serve with these dedicated men and women.
When I was with the 25th Infantry Division, I spent hours traversing the Korean terrain to various sites checking on young men and women (usually three or four soldiers) stationed on a mountaintop working long hours maintaining the communications equipment. You can imagine the frustration these soldiers had when a piece of equipment stopped working.
I remember receiving a call from the battalion headquarters that the battalion operations staff officer's radio stopped working. The division had just upgraded to a new secure radio system, and as you can imagine, there were equipment and operator problems.
When I arrived at the battalion operations, he met me as I got out of the truck. He was livid as he cursed me, the equipment, and the people who designed and built the equipment. He wanted someone to blame, and I happened to be the unlucky soul available.
I climbed into the van that sat on the back of a truck. I noticed the problem immediately, fixed it in about 20 seconds, turned around, walked back out, and told him it was good to go. He, as you can imagine, did not believe me. I doubt I would have believed me if I had been in his boots either. So, I explained the problem.
The cable between the radio and the security coding device was loose. When installing the cable, you push the female end of the cable onto the connector on the radio; then, you twist to the left to line up the connections between the security equipment and the radio. The cable was new and stiff, and tension in the cable loosed it, breaking the connection. The fix was to twist the cable before connecting it, using the natural stiffness in the cable to keep it tight.
It is the same for most equipment. If the power is not connected, it will not work. If the cable from the satellite is unplugged from the television, it will not work. If the power source is not plugged into the WIFI box, it won't work. Nor will your tablet or phone work if the battery is missing or dead.
Anyone who has ever worked technical support in automation or even appliance repair has had calls from bewildered callers about a piece of equipment that does not work as expected. These support people have learned to ask fundamental questions about matters that have nothing to do with any defect in the device. The first question they ask the caller, "is it plugged in, or have you checked the battery?"
It doesn't matter how well your equipment is designed or constructed. If it's not connected to a power source, it's just a doorstop.
So, too, with our spiritual lives.
“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness…”
Words to ponder on this the Lord’s Day.
Ed
