Can You Hear Me Now?

Most of us have seen the cell phone company's commercial where a man is seen walking around holding a phone to his ear asking the person on the other end of the line, "Can you hear me now?" We can relate to this ad because we have all had this very same experience when, in the middle of a cell phone conversation, we lose contact for a moment. After moving around or waiting awhile, we repeat these words to assure ourselves that our connection has been restored.

I can't help but think that God sometimes has to utter similar words to us when our connection with Him breaks off from time to time. It usually happens when we wander away from him through the practice of some sin or the loss of our habit of worshiping Him. We break our spiritual connection by fully embracing the world or stop the on-going dialogue with Him through prayer. The result is that He's still speaking to us (the word, the church, our conscience, etc.) but we're not hearing Him anymore.

This "disconnect" lasts for awhile until the consequences of our separation begin to appear. Sorrow, guilt, confusion, even physical suffering and set-backs are all different ways that God has of saying, "Can you hear me now?" In our day to day experiences, there is always a sense of relief when our phone contact is renewed and we continue our phone "life" once again. Imagine the joy when we hear the voice of the Lord at the other end of the line again and realize that we were the ones who cut Him off in the first place!