Dialing Heaven

I took a walk the other day, complaining to God that I wasn’t hearing from Him. It was foolish of me, but it’s what I was feeling at the time. Sure, I knew He was there, but were my words getting to Him?

Some years, I feel like God is whispering to me all the time, everywhere I go and every person I meet. It’s like the clouds of heaven part, and every spoken word goes straight to me. I see Him in everything I do, see, smell, touch, or experience. It’s wonderful.

And then there are times of silence, when I know heaven is open, but I feel like a bird has snatched His words away before they reach earth to my ears, heart, or eyes. There is a season for everything. Ecclesiastes tells us this to the nth degree (Ecclesiastes 3:1- 8). And usually, these “silent” seasons (though I know God is as near) are a time for me to trust. To wait. To utilize my faith.

After all, what good is faith if it is atrophied? And how can we know if it is dead or alive if we aren’t tested on this? Not particularly fun, but necessary and critical for growth in Him.

But on this day of grumbling, I checked my phone to see how far I’d walked and put it back into my pocket, not realizing I had accidentally opened the keypad to dial a number! Oops. After walking home, I checked my phone again. To my dismay, I had dialed a number. Fortunately, it wasn’t 911. So, what was it?

777. The perfect number. I just dialed heaven without even realizing it! It was apropos that this was the number I inadvertently dialed because, as I could see now, my prayers to God are exactly like dialing 777. I have instant access to Him; to call him, to talk to Him through prayer.

It may not feel like God is at the other end of the line, but just knowing my prayers always get to Him is enough to go on. While He may not always answer back when I want Him to - sometimes it’s more of a game of phone tag than a two-way conversation - He is always listening and aware of my circumstances. And that is enough for me to keep praying, keep moving forward, and keep expecting answers to my prayers.

One day, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1, NIV).

Finch Food for Thought: His love never fails, his mercies are new every morning, and he hears every prayer I make. No grumbling!