I posed this to a couple friends on PM here, but thought I'd open it up for others to chime in. The best thing about a computer dying is that it gives someone something to fix as a priority. Better than a sharp stick in the eye though. My trusty computer grew worse and worse mid-month, and as they say, "perished." File corruption somehow did it in! So, I contend God knew it was gong to happen. I also suspect He cared. "All things work together for good to them that love God..." Maybe He wanted me to learn more about computer recovery. It brought my RITA and Global Media Outreach [ministry] efforts to a s l o w c r a w l . S i g h ! So here's a big jump -- a question about chance: Would you say anything, or everything, or nothing in our lives is ordained? Some assert, as though it were absolute truth, "...everything happens for a reason." I think many "reasons," erroneously accredit to God, are actually excuses to avoid personal involvement or culpability. Do you ever say this? Solomon's claim in Ecclesiastes 9:11 was, "Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all." Where do "time and chance" fit in? :unsure: My hours and hours of still-not-right computer Any takers? :unsure: Life in general can be indiscriminate! Whether tribulations, illness, good or bad fortune! The point being is how we react I believe! TR For a believer, nothing is by chance. Everything that happens to us .. even the smallest things whether good or bad or annoying that occur is all for a reason. If we side step and get off the beaten path … we will know and not have the joy and could even experience all sorts of problems until we get back on the right trail. Sometimes we might not know the “why” until we reach Sweet Beulah Land and we see the whole picture and will understand it better. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Meanwhile … it sounds like the Lord wants you to invest in an ipad. B-) In our “New” Vermont Home … built in 1999 all brand new appliances installed and we had the following occurred in the 17 yrs living there: 3 kitchen stoves (1 stove only lasted 1 year … it exploded … cause of a faulty gas pipe line part that failed to open and close properly … China made … naturally) Last stove ordered took sooo long to arrive I was cooking with an electric crock pot and/or microwave and going over to my brother’s vacation home to borrow his 1984 stove/oven for emergencies … like … to make brownies. Didn’t realize he would be down visiting that same day … he said he walked in the house and smelled the aroma of brownies but not one single crumb was left. :mdrmdr: By the way ALL of his house appliances STILL work … 37 years later going strong :scratch: 2 refrigerators and the 2nd one the memory board went haywire after 3 months and a new one was needed and that took … a few weeks so we were without a refrig during that time span and lost our food supply. That wasn’t fun. My co-worker had the same thing happened to hers and the repair guy was visiting her home next after he did ours. All these appliances by the way are not cheap ones either. 2 dishwashers - the original conked out after 9 yrs and I started to washed dishes by hand and the 2nd replacement happened before putting the house on the market. 3 Washing machines - the 2nd one needed a part that would have cost over $250 and the repair guy said its best to buy a new one. Before selling the house, that 3rd washing machine electronic keyboard was going hay-wired. B-) 1 dryer (never had to replace it … ONLY because it was used maybe like 20 times?) 1 TV remote … um … landed in my chicken soup … yep … that is not a typo and lets just say nobody human dropped the remote in the soup either … it occurred while I was not in the room. B-) It was embarrassing calling up ordering a new one when the customer guy was trying to trouble shoot the problem … I said forget it .. its hopeless … I didn’t have the heart to tell him its currently soaking in the soup so I was charged for a new remote but I got a chance to witness to him over the phone. That was cool. I had to keep purchasing 3 bedroom tvs at this home … one RCA only lasted 1 yr …. 1 day after the warranty expired … Boom the picture went and only had sound. During the Yankees World Series too. B-) I worked and only used the tv at night for 4 hrs top. This set should have lasted longer …. Had a couple of satellite tv boxes just suddenly conked out. Dish antenna had to be frequently adjusted by service repair guy because the wind tilted it and couldn’t get any channels. Oil Furnace needed repair like clockwork every 4 months … the same faulty part would break down. Good thing for the back up wood burning stove and fire place. However, the 1st wood burning stove was purchased at Tractor Supply Store … outside cast iron but inside wasn’t and made in China … my dad was loading the wood and saw the mega hole inside after a few uses … he notified the store of the MAJOR defect that almost burnt his home down … and he got refunded and they removed from the market. Then he bought a genuine cast iron stove Vermont made. :good: These are just “some” of the “problems” we faced while living in a brand new home. But thru it all … the service repair guys/delivery men all got the Gospel … the Lord kept sending them over to the house. So on the bright side … hopefully someone got saved??? :unsure: Indeed God takes what was meant for evil and brings goodness! He does'nt always stop the evil! God's direction is to lead us, the choice to follow is ours! Satan is given certain authority to steal, kill and destroy! God sets limits! Indeed however our faith is challenged we are tested, sifted and put through spiritual fire as we are refined! Whether the hand of God or the fists of demons, situationally circumstances change! In death which is appointed to every man, whether by reason of age, health or martyrdom we are His! Indeed the common cold as like rain falls on the just and the unjust alike! TR Thanks sincerely, TR and Geri. I think God has most valuably equipped us, and progressively teaches us, to adapt. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's absolutely meaningless. Time and chance certainly do happen to all men as Solomon wrote, even despite someone being a believer in Jesus or not. Consider the class of all living things, most notably considering our bodies -- what God has done!!!! It's God's work of ADAPTABILITY -- in spades!! Believers' "times and chances" are phases of our never-ending. We're gonna' make it, whether dead or alive at the last phase! Still adaptable! It sucks that my computer died. :yes: Also my 1957 Ford Fairlane convertible back in 1962. PS -- Adaptability is also demonstrated in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you." Ultimate adaptability again! :yes: :good: God sovereignly and completely saves! Praise the Lord! TR I don’t know if God causes every little thing that happens, but I sure have seen Him use me in interesting ways and in interesting situations that have required my unique personality and skills. After He used me, He would move me on to the next divine appointment. Most of the time I would have a deep sense that I had finished the work that God appointed me to do. I am sure I have missed opportunities that He has set before me as well. I doubt though that God ordains when I refill the dog’s water bowl, brush my teeth, or put a load of laundry in, but I could be wrong. B-) Thanks, Joan. God feeds all the animals while in the wild, and your own animals are blessed by you. Right? You help them because you love them, and God knows that. Right? He uses you to care for those creatures He cares about. Teeth and laundry are enabled -- both to believers and non-believers alike -- because God has granted extensive intelligence to enabled water utilities and men to adapt our pipes in the ground and pressure to drive them. In my thread here, although God might have somehow "allowing" or even "caused" my computer to die, 1) my ministry work was necessarily interrupted while 2) He enabled me to adapt to its replacement. My discouragement and frustration did become a reluctant learning experience though. Also the benefit to RITA Now was that y'all were spared with my nonsensical "whys" and "what" ifs for a couple weeks. :wacko: I also suspect you'll adapt to that. :unsure: :mail: :yes: :mdrmdr:
Thank you Lord Jesus for adaptability -- and for all things new. Amen.
