Connected

When it comes to technology, and the sending and receiving of information, I am more connected now than I have ever been. I have a desktop computer, a laptop, an iPad and a smartphone. Our home is rigged up with wireless Internet. I can access most any piece of information or knowledge within seconds. I can contact anyone I so desire, and can myself be contacted by those same people, within mere moments. I can buy and sell things online with the click of a button, play games with people thousands of miles away with the swish of a finger, give direction to people who work with me via text message without ever setting foot in the office. Without hyperbole, I can easily say I am the most connected person that has ever existed within my family. 

And yet, within the framework of all this connectivity, I can't help but wonder if there might just be a fundamental disconnect, perhaps best expressed in this question: Does the instant access to almost all things diminish us in some way? Is there any value in the practice of waiting?

One of my favorite passages from the Bible comes from 1 Kings. It describes the prophet Elijah, and his meeting with God. The thing is, God didn't just show up. Elijah had to wait for a number of things to happen before he and God could get down to business with each other. 

1 Kings 19:11-13 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

I have come to embrace my life of connectivity, and have no desire to give it up. In many ways, access to technology and instant knowledge has allowed me to better function, as both a leader and a human being. Despite this, however, I cannot deny that sometimes there are powerful lessons to be learned simply by waiting for things to come to you, instead of trying to find all the answers at once. There is value in sifting through the winds, earthquakes and fires of life, waiting for the gentle whispers that God sometimes provides. Sometimes, our connection to God comes when we hit the "off button" on everything else.