Windows has installed new updates

I was gone last weekend – no computer, technology limited to my cell phone, and lots of snow –mounds of it, in fact. We were at our cabin in the north where life runs at a slightly slower pace. It was quiet and restful; a rare and coveted occasion, I know. Our cabin is somewhere written into the pages of my ‘thankful list’.  If you’ve been reading these posts for a while, you’ve heard all about ‘the list’. When we go to what I call ‘my haven’ I think of this verse in Isaiah 40:31 “They who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” We don’t set an alarm clock at the cabin and the sun rises before we have to.  I’m an early riser, so I’m up early – stealing those quiet moments to read and reflect.
Back home, I waited until this morning to turn all my technology devices back on. A message “Windows has installed new updates.” flashed on the screen and I had to laugh. “Windows has installed new updates.” After only one day of tranquility, how closely I could identify with that message! When I’m at the cabin, I often use those times to write cards. Because there are reasons to add scripture to the message, I keep a well-marked up and highlighted Bible close by. 2 Corinthians 13:11 instructs us to “… encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” Who doesn’t want the God of love and peace to be with us?
“Windows has installed new updates.” How simple that sounds! In fact if I look at the logs of what was changed in this manmade, inert object, there are sometimes many lines indicating significant changes. This is not unlike the changes God wants to make in my life – and especially the springboard for my life. God tells me not to just overwrite the thoughts and actions that are there, but to totally replace them.  Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? I love technology. Through it we have opportunities that couldn’t have existed 1000 years ago; or in many cases, even 10 years ago.  But the basic issues of life are unaffected by technology. They are heart issues, attitude issues, and technology won’t fix those. If we get the inside right, the outside will take care of itself. We’ve heard over and over again “Change your attitude, change your life.”  Unfortunately it takes time to effect a lasting changed.  Just like we expect technology to change things in an instant, we expect to change our attitude and life in an instant, and when it doesn’t, we wonder why it didn’t happen.
Stick with it.  It’s no mistake that God wrote these words in Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Protect your heart and your thoughts while you’re learning to form new attitudes and moving forward with those ‘updates’ in life. A good place to start is here, like David in Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Renew, update, replace, just start.
If I get the inside right, the rest will take care of itself. Right?
“Windows has installed new updates.” With God on our side, we have a fresh spirit installed in us every time we call on Him. Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
Amy Grant wonders why do we try so hard.