It seems these days that anywhere you go you can stay in touch. What about spiritually speaking?
Transcript
[Darris McNeely] In our increasingly digital, internet-connected world, do you there may be any place in this world today where one could go and not be connected?
I used to think so until recently on a trip to Kenya in East Africa. After visiting with members of the United Church of God during the Feast of Tabernacles we took a trip into the remote area of the Masai Mara game preserve for a couple of days of viewing the big game animals. And as we were leaving the game preserve and driving out, back to Nairobi, through the Masai tribal areas, I was struck by just how remote we really were there in East Africa. No electrical wires, no towns, nothing other than mud, thatched-roofed buildings belonging to the tribesmen, their goats, their cattle, the people of the Masai tribes there in East Africa, where in their life, the measure of one's wealth is measured by the number of cows that you have.
And we were driving along through this and just looking at it I realized we are out in the middle of nowhere so to speak, and then I picked up my smartphone and I turned it on and I had a digital signal. In fact, I had a very strong digital signal. I could connect to the internet. And it taught me a lesson and made me realize that in one sense no matter where we are in today's world, yes, we can be connected.
But it also drew me to a spiritual reminder of something in the book of Psalms, number 139 where it talks about the fact that there's really no place we can go at all on this Earth and in this life and not be connected with God in heaven. In Psalms 139:7 the question is asked, "Where can I go from Your spirit, or where can I flee from Your presence?" The answer really is there's no place that we can go and not be connected to God. It says, "If I ascend into heaven You are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold You're there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me and Your right hand shall hold me" (Psalm 139:8).
And so I learned a lesson driving through the wilderness, the desolate areas of East Africa in the Masai tribal areas that just as we can be connected globally through the internet even in these remote areas, we can always be connected with God no matter where we are spiritually - remotely gone, or distanced in some ways in our life from God our Father.
We can be connected with Him through prayer and by going to Him and asking for that help and that understanding. That's God's promise and that's God's word. And it's a very encouraging one and one we don't want to forget.
