Several particular events of this week sent me into a reminiscing mood. My thoughts went back to the time when I was maybe about 12 years old. That was a long long time ago! I grew up with no telephone in our home, so learning skills of how to correctly answer a phone in school really did not do much for me. In fact, I did not think that I would ever want to talk on one! Next door to my home was the home of my aunt and uncle. My Aunty did have a phone in their house. One day I was outside near one of our farm buildings when I heard the phone ring in their house. What should I do? I knew that she would have thought it important to answer that call. But I was far away. I would have to run—maybe over 150 feet. And I had never talked on a real phone! I didn’t want to do it! In the end, I did run as fast as I could and hoped all the way that I would be too late! I made it! I do not remember the importance of the call or even who it was. But I found out that I could do it—do something that I feared, something that I did not want to do, something that taught me to always just do the right thing, and that I could do the responsible thing. I never forgot that call. It became an important milestone in my life. I have forced myself to do many hard things since. I think God used that simple incident to help me understand I could try to do the hard things of my life in the years to come.
That phone was of the old crank type phone to make a call to alert an operator. It was also a party line phone. We had a neighbor who often spent time listening to conversations that were really none of his business, but he knew the news of the neighborhood! We don’t have to crank up a signal to God that we need to talk! He just hears us! And He doesn’t listen like a snoopy neighbor. God is omniscient—he knows all about me and you and everyone. We can’t hide and we can be assured that our conversations with God are just between “Him and Me!”
I finally grew up and went off to college! It was another hard thing to do—one of those lessons that I learned from long ago younger days. It is not easy to remember that in the 1970s we did not have cell phones! You could not decide to call and be able to do it immediately. In the dorm, you usually had to wait your turn to be able to use the one phone per floor of the dorm. And you had to have money/coins available to make your call home possible! So writing and receiving letters was how I stayed in touch with my family. I have often wished that reading letters from God in my Bible could be updated to being able to talk to Him by cell phone or video chat or by Zoom or by something even better! To be able to get immediate answers to my questions or tell God face to face how I feel would be so welcome! Dating in college was sometimes challenging in a Seventh-day Adventist school. Timing a phone call had to be pre-arranged for a specific time so that I could be near the phone when it rang so that no one else would take MY call. I am glad that I can talk to God any time—no prearrangement needed to make a date with Him!
After we got married, sometimes we had a phone and sometimes we could not afford to have one. Again, communicating with loved ones was by letter, since often only a rare phone call was possible. One day we had a flooding emergency, and I was home with our 2-year-old when we had a flood in our basement. I had to walk 3 blocks in the snow to get to a phone so that I could call our landlord! What a mess we had! I am so grateful that I don’t have to walk even 5 steps to be able to call on God during an emergency. He is right there to answer immediately!! On another occasion, when we were serving as the pastor for a group of 4 churches, I found myself needing to answer numerous phone calls for my husband when he was out and about. We had two wonderful sons by then. One was about 6 years old and the youngest was just over 1 year old. Such good little boys until I needed to be speaking on the phone to a church member. How did this little one know that I couldn’t do anything to correct naughty behavior or a naughty crying fussing episode when I was on the phone? It was so frustrating. I am pretty sure that I have frustrated God with my sinful behavior. Just when it might seem that I have learned some lessons in how to be obedient, then I have a day, or days when I don’t seem to have learned anything at all and God has to go back to the beginning and teach me that I just should not be doing those bad habits—habits that I should have grown beyond doing. Teach and reteach many times over again can get tiresome and frustrating for parents. God as our Heavenly Father has infinite patience with us, teaching us the same lessons over and over again.
Not long ago we were treated to frozen yogurt! It was so delicious. We tried out a new flavor called red cinnamon candy flavor. After eating my portion down to the last drop, I got up to toss our trash and then wandered about the shop checking out what was available and the prices. When everyone was finished, we went out to our cars and headed home. When I got home, I felt in my pockets for my phone—which was not found anywhere! A phone call and a trip back to the yogurt shop and my left behind phone was back with me. I have only ever left my phone twice, this time and another time several years ago—both at the same place! Yes, I was frustrated with myself both times. The thought to remember is that God wants us with Him. If we are in tune with Him, we will not be left behind when it is time to go home with Him! There will be no going back to get me if I’m not ready the first time.
So, what happened this week that led me to do all this reminiscing about phones? My phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing! The tone that let me know that I needed to answer an incoming call was an endless happening. In just the first 3 days of the week I had 30 calls that I did not want to answer from numbers that I had no knowledge of who they were from or potential spam calls. And that isn’t even counting all the ones that I deleted before I wanted to know the number of total calls I had those 3 days. To me, it was excessive, frustrating, and made me want to answer just to be able to tell someone to stop, go away, never ever call me again! I couldn’t hold the phone as I was doing various things that made me have messy hands. I was doing things away from where the phone had been placed. I grew increasingly frustrated and annoyed! Why were they all picking on me those three days? Today, as I am writing these thoughts, not one single call! The good thing—I got lots of exercise back and forth to the phone!!!
The annoyance of unwanted calls and texts can be a powerful reminder for the busyness and distractions that pull us away from God’s constant, clear calling in our lives. Just as we use caller ID to filter out spam, we need spiritual discernment to focus on what is true, just, and good, and filter out negative thoughts and worldly noise. Unwanted calls and texts—whether they are from telemarketers, scammers, robo calls, or Medicare sign up time — can give me a powerful spiritual application and symbol for the “unwanted” interruptions in my modern life. Our phones ring and buzz with messages that demand our immediate attention but offer little value—telemarketers, scams, and endless notifications. We can choose to ignore, block, or silence these intrusions. Spiritually, our minds can be just as noisy.
Worries, fears, comparisons, and negative self-talk feel like spiritual spam, demanding mental energy and distracting us from the peace God offers. These “unwanted calls” can make it difficult to hear the gentle, consistent “call” of our Heavenly Father. Just as most people—me too—screen our phone calls to detect “spam,” we must spiritually discern the source of the “texts” entering our minds and identify the “caller.” Many unwanted “calls” in our minds—thoughts of anger, shame, fear, or unworthiness—are spiritual spam from the voice of the deceiver, an adversary who seeks to steal our peace. In contrast, God often calls us when we least expect it. Unlike a telemarketer, He does not want something from me, but something for me. It is up to me to discern the difference in the voices I hear. It is God speaking or the devil?
The irritation of my many spam calls should help remind me to guard my heart with the same diligence I use to protect my time and phone and my “inbox.”.
2 Corinthians 10:5 teaches us to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ”. Just as I might block and then delete a number, I have the right from Jesus to “block” negative patterns like resentment or anxiety. We have the spiritual authority to silence the “spam” – those of fear, envy, or inadequacy—and refuse to let those thoughts interrupt our peace. And then there is this verse—Philippians 4:8 that serves as a spiritual “caller ID,” instructing us to focus only on what is true, noble, and praiseworthy. I often ignore unwanted calls because they are inconvenient and not wanted, but I need to be careful not to treat God’s nudges with the same dismissiveness, the desire to ignore. I have to decide which I want to acknowledge and heed and which ones to delete. Sometimes God purposely interrupts our plans. While it might feel “unwanted” in the moment because it challenges our comfort, answering His call often leads to healing and mercy. But on the other side we can sometimes seem to “spam” God. I need to avoid “spamming” God with impersonal or self-centered prayers. Instead, I want to seek a real connection, knowing that there is a Person out there somewhere who truly cares about me.
“Lord, help me to silence the noise of unwanted distractions and the ‘spam’ of the enemy. Give me the discernment to recognize Your voice above all others and the courage to answer when You call. Let my heart be a place of clarity and peace today. Amen.”
Unlike the impersonal, self-centered nature of spam calls, God’s communication is personal and full of purpose. He is constantly reaching out, calling me to an agenda of peace, an intimate relationship with Him, and a life lived in His grace. He wants to hear our concerns and offer His comfort and guidance. However, I’m often guilty of “spam calling” God with my own self-centered prayers, or worse, ignoring His call altogether when I’m busy or distracted. God will keep calling, persistently pursuing me and you, because His desire is for connection with us. Just as we try to discern between a legitimate call and a scam, we need spiritual discernment to “detect and reject whatever is not legitimate and good” for our souls. We can take every one of our thoughts and test it against the truth of God’s Word (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”
We have to intentionally “silence the echo of negativity” in our minds to better hear God’s voice. This means I must focus my mind on what is true, noble, and praiseworthy, as I’m encouraged to do in Philippians 4:8. I still have to do my part though. When I recognize God’s voice—whether through His Word, prayer, or the words of my trusted friends—I must “pick up the phone” and respond by my obedience and faith, even if it feels “unwanted” or uncomfortable in the moment.
Heavenly Father, thank you that Your call is always good, always intentional, and always for our well-being. Forgive us for the times we have been distracted by the noise and “spam” of this world and have ignored Your voice. Help us to develop spiritual discernment to filter out negativity and focus our hearts and minds on You. Give us the courage to answer Your call and walk in the peace and purpose You have for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen
We often feel a sense of “digital fatigue” when our phones are constantly pinging with unwanted robocalls or notifications. There is a similar problem in spiritual lives—a flood of unwanted thoughts, worldly distractions, and the “noise” of the enemy. I might ignore a call from a known or potential scammer, but I may also ignore an important urgent “call” from God because it feels less urgent than the glowing phone screen. God’s voice is often a “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12) that requires a “ghosting of the phone” to truly listen.
I can use the frustration of an unwanted call to “trigger” me to pray. Instead of letting the interruption steal my joy, I should let it remind me to check my connections with my Father. When my phone buzzes with a distraction, I should ask myself:
Is this a voice I need to silence, or am I letting it drown out the One
I need to hear.