Irresistible Urge to Chat

I saw a compelling video online the other day about the dangers of using your phone while driving.  It was gut wrenching to watch.  Why is it that so many of us have this compelling urge, an almost irresistible compulsion to read and respond immediately to every chat, text, email, tweet, almost regardless of where we are or what we are doing?  Why is it that, like Pavlov’s dog, when we hear that ringtone or text notification we simply cannot restrain that instinct to reach for our phone?

Perhaps we have been conditioned to think and feel that if we don’t read that text or respond to that message we will be missing out on something.  Or perhaps “Susie” will think we are ignoring her.  Or maybe “Jimmy” will think I don’t like him anymore because I didn’t get right back to him in 3 seconds or less.  Whatever the reasons, real or imagined, it would seem that we may have developed some unhealthy habits.

The video made me think about how I communicate with God.

Do I jump up and run across the house if He is “calling”?  How do I respond if I get a “message” from Him?  Do I impatiently look for his responses, hitting “refresh” every 2 seconds to see if he has replied?  Have I reduced my conversations with the Lord to a style that more closely resembles text messages – using emoticons, acronyms, and slang?   Do I start tapping my foot on the floor if he does not answer in 30 seconds?  or perhaps the alternative is the case…do I communicate with him even 1/10th of the amount that I text with friends and family?  

Have I taken today’s expectations for communicating and applied it to my relationship and conversations with God?

When you wake in the morning do you check your phone first or are you excited to start a conversation with God?  Do you rush to check for new Facebook posts, or do you start reading His Word to see what new things he wants to share with you?  Do you have an irresistible urge to communicate with God?  To pray?  To read His Holy Word?  Are you like Samuel when the Lord wanted to talk to him and Samuel replied “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.”  Do you reach out to God asking like the Psalmist did “Incline Your ear to me, hear my speech.”

Honestly, I have a bunch of work to do in this area of my own life.  But if I want to have honest, deep, meaningful conversations with my heavenly Father and hear what he has to say to me, that is going to a concerted and deliberate effort…it is going to take time and commitment on my part.  And there is no time like the present to start…