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Something I have been mulling over lately? Connection. Specifically, cell phone connection. I think I may have mentioned before that we live at the foot of a mountain that currently supports four cell towers. You can see those towers from most points in Berkeley County when looking west. If you’ve got a cell phone they may be your source of connectivity.

Well recently, we have been having cell phone connection problems. Lots of dropped calls, many no calls, you know, those dreaded words in the middle of an important conversation — CALL FAILED. That screen on our phones can really put the frus into frustrating. But, here’s what I have noticed, the overwhelming majority of those dropped calls happen inside my house. Despite the towers, we’ve never had great call power in our house, but within the past two months, we’ve sometimes had nil, zip, nada. But, there is one call we are able to make, the distress call … —…

True as can be, when I’m sitting in my living room my phone goes to SOS mode.

See! Again, frustrating!! But, it is just another reason to look at that cute little face. Anyway…

There it is, right at the top, SOS. I can call for help, but I can’t call to order a pizza. Hmmmm. So, I get the SOS mode of my phone usually in the evenings when I’m just sitting down to relax, or at least that’s when I notice it most.

But, here’s the thing I noticed the other day as I was prayer walking on the road facing the mountain.

Four bars, 5G!!!!!

I know this is totally about my connectivity, my cell phone power, the cell tower strength, satellites, signals that go out and bounce around, all stuff I don’t really understand and don’t care to, I just want my phone to work. But, it did make me stop and think a little.

In order to get out of SOS mode, in order to connect and communicate, I need to move closer to the signal. Hmmmm, again. My frustrating phone is a great reminder that in order for it to work properly, it must be able to receive a signal. My phone must be close to a signal in order to receive what it needs to receive a signal. That just makes sense, doesn’t it?

Not unlike us, right? In order for me to work properly, I must be able to receive the signal. It is not lost on me that when I’m sitting in my living room, usually watching some mindless TV or scrolling, trying to decompress from the day, that my phone goes to SOS. And yet, when I am hoofing it up and down that road connecting with the Lord in prayer, I have four bars, 5G, a perfect signal. Point taken.

You see, the Lord doesn’t want us to live in SOS mode. He wants us to live always connected to the signal, not only able to make SOS calls. He calls us to the perfect connectivity, always four bars and 5G, connected to Him at all times. If we live in SOS mode, we are constantly trying to reestablish the signal. We’re constantly toggling our reception on and off trying to reconnect.

He definitely wants us to cry out in our distress, but He desires more to have a constantly connected relationship with us. It’s not relationship if we only call on Him in distress. In fact, some of our distress calls may be completely eliminated by staying completely connected.

I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

Check out your connection. What we fully connect to will be our source of strength.