Buffering-- Please Wait

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Buffering. Don’t you just hate that? I mean, I know my phone and computer are both really old compared to this fancy shmancy stuff now, but if I want to watch a video, I don’t want to have to wait for it to buffer! It drives me crazy! (Yes, this goes back to the whole patience issue I have.) I decided to look up the definition of buffering in an attempt to figure out exactly what it was. It was quite a task, mind you, being as how the traditional dictionary didn’t have the tech-y version I was (apparently) looking for. Go figure. Anywho, I discovered that “buffering refers to downloading a certain amount of data before starting to play the music or movie. Having an advance supply of audio samples or video frames in memory at all times prevents disruption if there are momentary delays in transmission while the material is being played.” ^[1]  

Now, I’m no tech genius by ANY stretch of the imagination. Most of this is over my head already. Just the fact that I found the pcmag website thrilled me, to be honest. Keep up with me here though.  To butcher that definition a bit, it seems to me that before we can ‘play’ any type of audio/visual wonder the device must first download portions of it. Apparently it does this to make the playing back of that item go smoother. It also helps to continue the playback if your signal is disturbed for any reason. So you download it, to use it, in case something happens, that interrupts your using it. Got it? Oh, by the way some devices do this faster than others apparently. :/

To quote a statement that I made the other day, “My life is like a loading screen…It’s still buffering.” Now this proclamation made my mom laugh, and I even ended up posting it as a humorous status update, but think about it for just a moment. You’re reading this, my blog, most likely because you’re waiting for something or someone like I am. You, too, have a loading screen-like life; if you will. Sometimes I picture my life like one of my brother’s video games. He tells me that there is a great game coming, but that screen is still flashing “Loading-Please Wait.”

Still with me? Good. Now’s where my crazy thought process comes in. My life and yours is in this buffering phase. We’re buffering! We are waiting for The Lord to play that amazing music video (or action GIF, if you’d rather) that will make up the next part of our lives, but before we get to witness His awesome image quality, we need to go through a little buffering of our own…

We Gotta Download God’s Data

Just listen to my jargon, won’t ya?! Seriously though, before we can begin to see the big picture of what God wants for and from us, we first have to connect with Him. We need to DAILY be in His Scriptures- absorbing His literal Word.  We need to have constant, fluid, communication with Him. We gotta pray! Not only do we need to present our requests and lay our situations before Him, but we also have to confess our shortcomings (sins), uplift the needs of others, thank Him for the blessings, and just praise Him for Who He is and what He’s done. We need to be like dry sponges thrown into the vat of Living Water; soaking up everything that is of Him- His Words, His character, His commands, His passions, His message.

Let’s Sum It Up

I’ve noticed that God seems to work in one of two ways. He’ll either throw you into the midst of something and you just need to trust Him while doggy-paddling or He’ll make you wait and wait AND WAIT until He reveals pieces of His plan to you. The latter is the phase that I’m in right now. I’m just focusing on Him, filling my soul with His Word. I’m basically “downloading” God into my life.  

Once we are focused only on Him, He will ‘push play’ on our life. (so to speak…) This may be a short period of time or it may seem to take forever; just remember that we serve a sovereign God. Eventually though, all the time that we put in actively waiting WILL come to fruition. We WILL get to see Him at work in our life. He WILL prepare our path. He promises all that to those who are faithful.  [Deuteronomy 31:8]  [Jerimiah 29:11] [Ecclesiastes 3:11] [Matthew 24:12-13]

I’ll leave you one more thought as I close. The definition of buffering told us that it downloaded the data in case anything was to disrupt the stream. Well… What if God is putting you and I through this watching and waiting period so that in the future, if we were to ever get side-tracked or forgetful, we could recall this time of focusing- this time of downloading- to keep us going and get back on track?