Wipe Out
My face lit up as my suitemate bobbed into my room with a great big smile on her face. I knew she had a story to tell, so I turned my chair away from my desk to listen for a while.
She reminded me of the time not too long ago when she plugged her ipod into her computer. An abnormal and surprising window popped up on the screen saying, "resetting to default." Stunned, she watched all three hundred songs vanish into the great technological abyss. Staring at the blank screen in disbelief, she boiled over with a gut feeling of frustration. "Really? I can't believe this!" she said to me as she recounted the incident.
But she went on to explain how, in such a simple inconvenience, she saw something more.
This past semester hasn't been the easiest time of her life. Heartbreaks, hurts, and discouragement have followed her around, desperately trying to steal her attention away from her passionate love for the Lord. In her own words, she said that she had been "wiped clean", just like her ipod. Although her struggles, pains, and "wipe-outs" seemed to be a source of anger and despair, she excitedly told me the story of how God transformed her ashes into beauty.
"You see," she exclaimed, "The great thing about my ipod wipe out is that I get to start fresh and fill it with all new songs!" She went on to make the connection with her own life. When struggles wipe us out, God gives us the opportunity to fill back up. It's like a fresh start, a clean plate, a new day. The old is gone and the new has come! With a blank screen in front of us, we can import and download the truth that comes from the Lord, and we can synchronize our hearts, minds, and will to Him. God designed us to be tuned to Him, so maybe we all need to be "reset to default" when other songs crowd our memory and create distracting noise.
Who would have thought that such a little insignificant, unspiritual occurance would hold such a lesson. As my dear friend finished her story with joy, we rejoiced together. We rejoiced in the fact that our "wipe-outs" lead to fresh starts, and we rejoiced that we serve a God who fills our emptiness with His love, His grace, and His truth, leaving us with a satisfaction that is beautiful music to our ears.
She reminded me of the time not too long ago when she plugged her ipod into her computer. An abnormal and surprising window popped up on the screen saying, "resetting to default." Stunned, she watched all three hundred songs vanish into the great technological abyss. Staring at the blank screen in disbelief, she boiled over with a gut feeling of frustration. "Really? I can't believe this!" she said to me as she recounted the incident.
But she went on to explain how, in such a simple inconvenience, she saw something more.
This past semester hasn't been the easiest time of her life. Heartbreaks, hurts, and discouragement have followed her around, desperately trying to steal her attention away from her passionate love for the Lord. In her own words, she said that she had been "wiped clean", just like her ipod. Although her struggles, pains, and "wipe-outs" seemed to be a source of anger and despair, she excitedly told me the story of how God transformed her ashes into beauty.
"You see," she exclaimed, "The great thing about my ipod wipe out is that I get to start fresh and fill it with all new songs!" She went on to make the connection with her own life. When struggles wipe us out, God gives us the opportunity to fill back up. It's like a fresh start, a clean plate, a new day. The old is gone and the new has come! With a blank screen in front of us, we can import and download the truth that comes from the Lord, and we can synchronize our hearts, minds, and will to Him. God designed us to be tuned to Him, so maybe we all need to be "reset to default" when other songs crowd our memory and create distracting noise.
Who would have thought that such a little insignificant, unspiritual occurance would hold such a lesson. As my dear friend finished her story with joy, we rejoiced together. We rejoiced in the fact that our "wipe-outs" lead to fresh starts, and we rejoiced that we serve a God who fills our emptiness with His love, His grace, and His truth, leaving us with a satisfaction that is beautiful music to our ears.
As I read this story and recount that joyful day of sharing my revelation with you, I can't help but smile and wipe away the few tears that form. I cannot even begin to describe how much change has occured in me snce that day! Thank you for writing this! I know I am a little late commenting but I just re-read this for the third time. Praise God for wipeouts!! :)
ReplyDeleteYes! Praise God for wipeouts. Thanks for letting God wipe you out and rebuild you again. It's been amazing to see God work in you. May He work in all of us the same way!
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