Saturday, September 29, 2012

They Stole my iPad, Lessons Learned

Find my iPad!

For who dares make light of small beginnings? These seven eyes will joyfully look on the tin tablet in Zerubbabel's hand. (These are the eyes of the Lord , which constantly range across the whole earth.) -Zechariah 4:10
The first day of my vacation in the Dominican Republic, someone steals my iPad out of my back pack in baggage claim. This little tin tablet is my life line to my work and the world. I was deeply incensed that one of the workers would go in my bag to take my iPad. After being frustrated with the efforts of the airport officials with Delta, I left with a half-hearted assurance that they would search the surveillance cameras for the culprit who took my iPad.

Once I arrived at the Hotel I logged onto "Find my iPad" to erase the content and send a signal that it was lost. The Apple representative said that the signal and the fact that it was in lock mode might have frustrated the criminal because it is still in pending mode for the information to be erased.

I'm sitting out on the deck, looking at the ocean, having devotion on the third day of my vacation and God speaks to me about my "tin tablet." He says:

1. I have seven eyes that go through the dark corners of the earth. verse 10, in other words, what they think they got away with I have seen. God has eyes on everything that is going on in the world.

2. There's a curse on the thief. And he said to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. (Zechariah 5:3 NIV)

3. The power is not in the Pad but the Person. So he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6 NIV) God gives Power to the Person not the Pad.

4. Appreciate the little things. He tells Zechariah "despise not small beginnings." I had to stop and look at the poverty of the people who worked here and reaize the things that I take for granted are considered a luxury to them. It made me stop to take inventory of my blessings and forget about the "tin pad"

5. This is a test to see how I measure up. The other word for "tin pad" is plumb line. It was an instrument used to measure a bulding, in this case, the Holy Temple. This was my test to see how I measured up. My sister in law called me on my birthday and reminded me of the words I had shared with her after being broken into 6 times! She said, "Brother, God will restore what was stolen. There are greater things to come." What I lost didn't measure up to what she had lost. I came back to my self.

6. It's no good if it's not in your hands. That thief can't enjoy my iPad because it's locked and erased. But it also taught me to guard my gift and don't just lay it down anywhere.

7. It's time for an upgrade anyway! I had the iPad 2 but now I"ve got to get the iPad 3. When the enemy takes one thing God replaces it with something better. On the first day, they took Jesus' life, but on the 3rd day, God gave it back, but this time they could never take it back, because he got up with all power in his hands!

Dear God,

Thank you for the gift of your word that you have put in my hands. My power is not in my pad but in You. You will restore what I've lost, for your eyes are on everything. I may have lost my iPad but I am still an I-Witness that I Am Blessed!

In Jesus Name,

Amen

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