Glitches and Switches
May 23, 2017
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” – James 1:17
Little Billy Clutz was so excited. His birthday brought more gifts than he could have ever requested. One caught his imagination more than any other. He had seen in advertised everywhere. It was a brand new, shiny red “thingamawidget.” It could do just about everything and with it, he would be an A-1 invincible kid. He tore open the package and inserted the batteries and – nothing happened. Dad, grandpa, Aunt Myrtle the engineer, and several cousins read and re-read the instructions, fiddled, cogitated, and scratched their heads all afternoon., Frustration simmered. The congregated Clutzes were unanimous in their disdain for this toy.
“Whoever designed such a ridiculous piece of junk?!?”
“I did.” It was Cousin Henry who had just walked in. “My company made these based on my design. Here … did you turn this switch as it says in Step One of the instructions.”
Zoom! The “thingamawidget” was now widgetting around the red-faced members of the Clutz family.
We are beset with two extremes. One is to take God’s gifts for granted and never think of the grace with which they are bestowed and gratefully cherish them. Another is equally insidious. That is not to read and follow God’s instructions on how His gifts are to be received and used.
For those who have grown dependent upon computers, glitches are never welcome. We store our notes, our records, and our very memories on magnetic disks counting on systems and machines to perform predictably whenever we need to retrieve our priceless information or do some task that we no longer know how to do any other way. There is no human power or technology that is infallible. God is unchanging and we can count on Him.
Our trust must be in God and He must be our most cherished treasure. It is the giver who designs the perfect gifts for us and can instruct us best on their use.