God is our Loving Wifi Router

Do you ever feel like you are trying so hard? Almost like you are running up a down escalator. You see the end goal, and want so badly to reach it so you just keep trying. One step at a time you go, thinking that the failure stems from lack of effort. You run with all of your might and think you're finally gaining and making progress. You stop for a minute to catch your breath and slowly sink down the escalator again. This never-ending cycle is imitative of the Grecian Sisyphus forever rolling his giant stone boulder up the hill, doomed to never succeed in his task for all of eternity. Effort without fruit is frustrating. So so frustrating.

As mostly good-intended humans, we naturally put a lot of effort into self-improvement. Typically we see our flaws clearly and want to remedy them. For both the Christian and non-Christian alike, we put immense effort into trying to become better. We all do this. We think, "Gosh I really need to be more loving! I'll have to try harder to be more patient. I need to put others first more often. I have to work harder on having more joy. I should really be more patient......" And it goes on. This really isn't a bad thing. The Bible is full of passages and lines pointing our how we should work to serve and love.

"[....] love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12

"[....] love your neighbor as yourself." Mark 12:31

"[....] in humility count others more significant than yourself." Philippians 2:3

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, and constant in prayer." Romans 12:12

It seems so simple when we read it. It can often feel like we just need to try a little bit harder and then we'll exhibit these traits more. An additional layer of pressure to become better is put on Christians because we know that it is our privilege and duty to bearing an example of imitating Christ. All of this self-improvement seems fitting in our current culture of striving. The message displayed seems to be that if you put in enough effort, you can accomplish anything.

Why then do we feel so frustrated when we fail at exhibiting these attributes. When we try so hard to be gentle and loving, but just can't help but snap at someone in a rough moment. When we put a huge emphasis on becoming more peaceful and joyful, yet are caught up in a cloud of stress that we just can't quite shake. When we promise to be more patient and then find ourselves internally flipping out a a bad, slow driver when we're in a rush to get somewhere. Why do we fail at these things so much every day? Is it because we aren't "Christian" enough? Is it because we aren't trying hard enough? Is it because we are not putting enough effort in? The real issue is not lack of effort, but misplaced effort.

Our beautiful Lake Huron!

Let me lay out a scenario for you to illustrate the point. I live in Northern Michigan. Our cabin is right in the middle of the woods across the street from Lake Huron. It is so so beautiful. At night, the sky is blanketed with more stars than you can imagine while we can faintly hear the unsalted waves hitting the shore in the distance. I’ve been to many incredible bucket-list places, but northern Michigan remains one of my absolute favorite places in the world. I really love it here so much. There are only a few distinct cons: one is that there is literally zero cell service. You are either connected to our Wifi, or you are totally off the grid.

As a result of the Wifi limitations, I’ve learned just exactly where the Wifi will and will not work.

The stunning Northern Michigan forest!

The location of our router is incredibly consequential. For example, I know that I typically am able to listen to around 45 seconds of a song from my phone when I’m pulling out of the driveway before the connection will completely sever. I’ve learned that if I’m working upstairs, the Wifi is usually golden, but downstairs in the basement it’s a little more sketchy. I tend to do my work upstairs in the kitchen area (where I am right now as I type this), but sometimes the cool temperature and comfy couches of the basement are just too appealing, and I find myself migrating to work there instead. I sit downstairs and pull up my sites. All of the sudden I get the ever so familiar “reconnecting” sign. Naturally, I hit refresh. And I hit it again. And again. As I sit there repeatedly hitting refresh, connecting and reconnecting to the Wifi, I begin to grow frustrated. The Wifi will look like it’s working again, only to crash a minute later. All my refreshing efforts are leading to no substantial fruits. Clearly though, my efforts are just misplaced. I’m wasting time and energy hitting refresh and trying to connect to the Wifi when my energy could be so much better spent. If I simply walked upstairs, closer to the router (the source of Wifi itself), my laptop would automatically reconnect and begin to run smoothly.

This is a reality in our lives today. We spend so much time and energy trying to become more loving, kind, patient, and peaceful. We think we can gain these things if we just try harder. The laptop connects for a second and gives the illusion of success. We think we’ve finally grasped how to be patient. Then we hit a snag and are back to hitting refresh all over again. What we really need to do is stop wasting our efforts trying to will ourselves to exhibit and live in the fruit of the Spirit, but instead direct our efforts toward getting closer to Him. Just like with the Wifi, what we really need to do is get closer to the source.

God is full of goodness. He is the source of it Himself. His loving goodness is like a pounding waterfall. We hear it roaring off in the distance, alerting us that we are on the right path. We walk closer and begin to feel the fine mist hitting our skin. Suddenly we’re under the spray of the life-giving water. We find ourselves immersed in the falls and swept up His current of love. True love and goodness come from Him and Him alone. Everything beside loving goodness is repelled like oil from His water of life and love.

When you grow close to God, the fruit of the Spirit will begin to just radiate off of you. Instead of trying so hard, get close to the source.

To become a person full of love, get closer to the source of love Himself.

To become a person full of joy, get closer to the source of joy Himself.

To become a person full of peace, get closer to the source of peace Himself.

To become a person full of patience, get closer to the source of patience Himself.

To become a person full of kindness, get closer to the source of kindness Himself.

To become a person full of goodness, get closer to the source of goodness Himself.

To become a person full of faithfulness, get closer to the source of faithfulness Himself.

To become a person full of gentleness, get closer to the source of gentleness Himself.

To become a person full of self-control, get closer to the source of self-control Himself.

To become a person full of life, get closer to the source of life Himself.

This method is tried and tested, it always works! When you get closer and closer to God, you become infused with the light that shines from Him. How could you possibly stand in a waterfall and not get soaking wet? How could your laptop be right next to the Wifi router and not automatically have a stronger connection? How could you not exhibit the fruit of the Spirit if the Holy Spirit Himself lives in harmony inside of you? How could you be infinitely close to the source of loving goodness Himself and not find yourself overflowing loving goodness wherever you go? Simple answer: you can’t!

My message to you today is this: draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Seek first the kingdom of God and all of these things will be added to you. How do you draw near to Him? Simply like you would in any relationship: spend time with Him, read the living Word, talk to Him about your thoughts and feelings, and look for Him in every moment (I talk about building a relationship with God in much more depth in my book, Young Woman). There is absolutely nothing better in the world than a close relationship with God. The love is unconditional, the joy transcends circumstance, and the peace is truly beyond our understanding. Focus all of your efforts on chasing after Him, and everything else will fall into place. I PROMISE.

Comment below: what is your WORST experience with a poor internet connection?

Here’s my answer: I have had a ton of horrible Wifi experiences with our lifestyle of traveling on the road to all sorts of places off the beaten track. From failed zoom calls to missed emails to disastrous messages, I’ve seen it all. One of the most frustrating instances however, was the writing of this post. I have written it three times!! The first two times, as I went to hit the publish button, it wouldn't let me. The button was unresponsive and gray, the internet crashed, and I lost everything I had written so far. That’s why it’s taken me so long to get this post out there! Ahhh it frustrated me so much, but the content of what I was writing was a message that went straight to my heart; the irony was not lost on me. I don’t know why God wanted this post to be delayed, but I know He had a good reason for it! Just now, I finished writing my post for the third time. With a sinking feeling in my gut, I went to press the publish button. An instant before I got there to the intimidating gray and unresponsive button, it flushed up to its normal bright blue and reconnected me. Clearly, it's now finally time for this post to get out there. It gives me chills the way He works in mysterious ways.

Keep Fighting the Good Fight,

Grace :)