Geek Goes AAUGH

Have I told you I am a nerd, geek, etc.? Do I really need to say it? I love playing with the newest tech gadgets – though my budget (and my wife) keep telling me not to buy any of it. This passion can especially be seen in my loving bond with Apple brand devices (iPhones, iPads, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and so on). And normally I have the latest iPhone and Lisa gets my previous gen for her use. But I find myself with the oldest phone in the house – Lisa has the 7, Calvin the 8, and I have the 6 – not even the 6s.

Now this is not a complaint about the 6. I have ample storage and better than average speed. It has no cracks in the screen and still holds its artistic beauty of metal and glass in the space grey. My provider – Verizon – has not given me any issues. And the coverage in the DFW area has not dropped any phone calls (unlike the area around Friendship Baptist). But I do often look at the phone and give my best Charlie Brown, “AAUGH!”

At least I don’t do what my co-worker Crystal did the other day. Her phone was messing up so she kept hitting it, slapping the screen, and banging it on the counter. She is now looking for a new phone. Duhh.

For me, it’s the battery life. I can drop 50% in under an hour. And the other day (at the NFL Draft), it went from 13% to shut down in 10 seconds. Now, I have read the reports about the battery scandal for the 6, and I understand the latest updates reversed Apple’s policy of throttling speeds on older phones to try to save battery life. I know all this – but I was hoping my phone would not have that problem. Why? Well, because I am such an Apple geek and it’s me. Wellll … Nope. Nada. No such luck.

I also know Apple has done a wise PR move and is now replacing batteries on the 6 for FREE!! I didn’t know they did anything for free. So, I guess I will open the app and schedule a genius visit to get my new battery.

There are a couple lessons here. Let me share one – we let so many things bother us. Why do we get so irritated. We often think God should treat us better and let everything be smooth in this world. I was listening to Tony Evans and he reminded me that in Exodus, when the Israelites cried out for relief, He sent Moses to deliver them. But remember this – there were ten plagues first. And when they did get out of Goshen, they ended up trapped between the army of Egypt who wanted to destroy them and the shores of an impassable sea. It seems God answered their prayer just to put them in a worse situation. But God said He did this so Egypt would know He was God.  (SPOILER – God delivered by parting the sea and destroying the Egyptian army.)

Maybe God lets you go through tough stuff so those around you can see your response and see how God is working in your life with the peace of God that surpasses all understanding – so they will know He is God.

So don’t go banging your phone against the wall, or your head either. Don’t let things that happen in your life get your eyes of the One who brings peace, hope, joy. And remember – people are watching. Let them see someone who trusts God – the only God – the true God who brings peace.

So no more AAUGH – just PTL … and get down to Apple for that new battery.

Hebrews 12.2 – keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (CSB)