"I Emailed You, Why Didn't You Answer?" (Romans 8:26-27)

When the internet and email arrived in the mid-1990’s, communication dramatically changed. No longer did one have to wait for days or weeks for a written letter to arrive to its recipient. The message wa immediately delivered. In spite of this remarkable advance in technology, it could sometimes become a problem.

Some email users did not understand that although emails are instantaneously delivered, it does not always require an immediate response. It allows the recipient the luxury to review the message at their convenience. But some senders were impatient.

In one hospital I worked, the secretaries and other physicians bemoaned their experience with their former chief of pathology. He would send an email and if the recipient did not answer within five minutes, he would stand at the door of their office and exclaim, “I emailed you. Why didn’t you answer?”

Of course, none of the staff were brave enough to ask him, “If the message was so urgent, why didn’t you simply speak directly to me?”

God speaks to me in a variety of ways. Most times, He speaks to me through His Word and through the fellowship of other believers. He is patient with me until His complete plan and purpose are revealed. But sometimes, God does require a quick answer. And it is during those times, His Holy Spirit immediately convicts me. This happened when I first accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I immediately experienced a change in my life. When I sin, the Holy Spirit immediately convicts me of my transgression. And when I am distracted in my prayers, God, again, immediately answers me.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)

God doesn’t email me but like an email, He sometimes gives me the luxury of time to respond. But if He desires a quick answer, I can be assured He will get my attention through His Holy Spirit!

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.