Opus 2011-125, The Glory of the Off Button

Life is full of afflictions.  They come in different grades and degrees, but they all tend to cause tensions and pains that try to derail us from living our lives.  A strange thing happens to our afflictions when we allow God’s grace to sanctify them.  When we respond to them as God would have us respond our afflictions cease being liabilities and become assets.  They become in some mysterious way something which makes us stronger and better.  When we respond in faith, God sanctifies.

Take a simple example.  You might not even consider this an affliction but remember I said they come in many degrees.  Like many people I have a long drive to work.  Forty-five minutes that I used to consider a total loss.  Now I have allowed God to use it to be a blessing.  Instead of fuming and fussing I am able to praise and rejoice.

I was trying to fill the time listening to a program on talk radio.  When this man first came on I found him offensive, obnoxious, narrow minded and shallow.  This was true in spite of the fact that I generally agreed with his positions.  My opinion of him has not changed, but he has become a blessing because by turning him off I have been forced back to using the time in a more spiritual edifying manner. 

There are big potential benefits in that simple motion.  Many times the lesson God is trying to teach us is the glorious freedom of the Off Button.  What it is that is causing problems?  Is it an attitude, a person, a situation?  Fill in the blank.  If we look, many times there is a way we can turn it off.  That simple decision makes all the difference in the world.

Turning off the radio led me to discover the wealth of pod casts available for free download.  My I-pod because a gift of God.  I am sure that would surprise Steve Jobs, but it is true.  I don’t need to listen to commercials about mood enhancing drugs, I can listen to Alistair Begg.  I don’t need to yell at the radio, I can listen to some of the best speakers in the world. 

What I once thought of as a waste of time has been transformed into a time of blessing. 

(Colossians 4:5 KJV)  Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

Make down time a blessing.  Get an I-pod, carry a book with you everywhere, keep a notebook of thoughts that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.  Be blessed so you can be a blessing.

homo unius libri