So it doesn’t get lost in translation…

If you’re older than, say, 15, you may have realized that what you mean to communicate is not always the message that is received.  Now, when my dog wants to go outside for some biological necessity, he is fairly clear in his insistence; there’s just not a lot of ambiguity to his request.  And a similar scenario happens in the afternoon when he thinks it’s time for me to put his premium brown crud into his food bowl.

Oh!  That it were so easy with humans!  Alas!  The ability to clearly transfer (I do like that word) what I’m thinking, wanting, needing to someone else is a skill that takes a lifetime to master, if then. 

And if it can be that difficult to communicate what’s really going on inside of me to another human, I can only speculate how my fallen (although redeemed) nature struggles to connect with the One who created the universe!  Granted, sometimes I know exactly what I want (which might actually become detrimental), and I can express it to God in no uncertain terms (thankful later for the grace that holds back the well-deserved lightning bolts). 

Here’s an interesting thought:

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

Hold that thought for just a second…

Did you know that YouTube cannot take a Keynote (Mac’s version of Powerpoint) as is?  They don’t connect.  No matter how impressive my presentation is, no matter how professional, YouTube can’t receive it “as is”.  Bummer.

But wait! I have this function on my little Macbook that takes my Keynote presentation, slides and all, and reconfigures it into a movie via QuickTime.  From there, I can upload it to YouTube (at least, theoretically…we’ll see).  Both of these programs came hard-wired as part of the package when I bought this computer, (which was a gift from my parents, BTW.)

So I think that’s what I see happening here with this amazingly, way-above-my-puny-mind-to-fully-grasp Holy God.  The reason I can come to Him—as my loving Father, my Dad—is because I have the Holy Spirit who “reconfigures” my own groanings into His so that my prayers can be appropriately uploaded into Heaven.  I don’t have to earn it (that option’s not available anyway; it’s a gift).  This communication transference is now hard-wired as part of the package when Jesus comes on the scene in my life.  And my “as-is” prayer suddenly takes on new significance.

How cool is that?

Romans 8:26,27  Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.