Sorry to be such a stranger lately. I’ve been spending all my free time trying to figure out my new laptop.
Isn’t a new computer supposed make life easier? Mine certainly didn’t.
The first few days I began using it, I couldn’t find anything. Whenever I did a search online, everything looked strange and different. Sometimes the mouse would randomly jump to the start screen, for no apparent reason. And the keyboard commands weren’t working, either. I found myself googling things like, ‘Shortcuts for renaming a file in Windows 8’–which wasn’t what I wanted to be doing on a Monday morning.
The whole experience was confusing and irritating. I felt completely disoriented–like I was bumbling around in a fog.
But just before I gave up and brought the machine back to the store,
I loaded Google Chrome.
Suddenly, everything fell into place.The screen looked familiar. My tabs were there! I could find what I was looking for quickly, and with ease. I was surprised at how settling and satisfying it was.
Does this mean I’m getting old? Maybe. Perhaps when my generation hits the nursing home, they’ll have rows of laptops with Google Chrome loaded–bringing us back to ‘the day’. But even the youngest whippersnappers, who love nothing more than a new app with a new interface, are to some extent, comforted and settled by the familiar. We all like to have a ‘constant’ in a changing world.
Google Chrome might be my ‘constant’ on a new laptop, but in life, my ‘constant’ is the Word of God. Whenever I feel disoriented or confused because of some sudden change or irritant or crisis that life has flung my way, it helps to open my Bible.
Suddenly, everything falls into place. I can get my bearings. I remember where to find what I’m looking for–in God! My little notes in the margins and underlined passages remind me of what is ‘constant’ and true, and as the words seep into my soul, I feel comforted and settled.
Do you feel this way about your Bible? Don’t be discouraged if you don’t yet. It takes time for God’s ‘operating system’ to become familiar and settling.
But if you will open your Bible day after day (the way you open your laptop!), it will become the ‘constant’ that will keep your soul settled and comforted throughout any crisis or storm. Your life doesn’t ever have to feel ‘foggy’ again! (Which is a promise that cannot be made about new laptops.)