Sermon Illustrations

Dealing with people is so very difficult, this week on Thursday as I was working on my sermon for today, my computer system went down. I was no longer able to connect to the internet, I was studying for the sermon and I was no longer able to do so. I called the folks at Wild Blue and told them what the problem was and they began to research it from their end. To my surprise they told me that they had canceled my account because I had told them I was moving on June 11th. Now, that would be fine if this were June 10th but this is 2 ½ weeks away from my move. So I began the arduous task of dealing with one person then another, and found out that it would take 2 weeks to re-activate my account at my present location, then another two weeks to shut it down again. Needless to say I was not a very happy person by this time. I told the customer service rep that what they had done was wrong, because I had followed their instructions, and she said that this was true, but, too bad.

At this point I decided that it was time to end the conversation, I told her I was not pleased with the customer service that I felt I was not receiving, and then said that I would appreciate her telling that to her superiors, and that I wished that she would have a good day. So, I ended the call without raising my voice, although I am sure there was some tension apparent by the time I did so. Yvonne said to me as I told her I was going to have to go to Lampasas to arrange for dial up service, “did you pray?” I had to laugh at myself at that point for I had not prayed. As I did so, my anger began to dissipate and I began to feel my tension ease. I suppose that my blood pressure had become elevated as well and in prayer the Lord was able to work to calm that problem as well. I know that this whole moving thing has become a very difficult time for both Yvonne and I, yet it is also a time of prayer and of letting the Spirit work.