Never A Wrong Number

We’ve all done it at one time or another.
We’ve texted the wrong person.
We are in the middle of two conversation streams.
We answer what we just read but we responded to the wrong stream.

It can be embarrassing.
Even when we purpose to look up and make sure the recipient is the correct one, we don’t.
In our rush to respond, we just type and send.
We really need to check and double check.

I got a text on the weekend.
I did not recognize the number.
I clicked on it to read it, making sure it was not some sort of emergency.
Thankfully, it was not.

However, it was a text intended for someone else.
It was someone named Lauren reaching out to someone named Michelle.
Hope today goes smoothly. Text if I can help.
The text went to the wrong person and the right person had no idea it was sent.

I sent a reply back to the the sender.
I’m not Lauren. I think you have the wrong number and meant this for someone else.
Sorry. Thanks for letting me know, was the sender’s reply.
No problem, I answered ending our conversation.

Hopefully, Lauren reached Michelle and everything went smoothly.
How inconvenient a wrong number can be.
How sad if Michelle never knew that Lauren was reaching out to her in her time of need.
I’m glad I let the sender knew the text was sent to the wrong person.

We used to live next door to a family with the same last name as ours.
Our mail very rarely got confused.
However, once in a while we would receive a piece a mail intended for the other family.
We would put the correct piece of mail in their mailbox.

Our neighborhood has only twenty-three houses.
When you pull into our street, there is a No Outlet sign.
Our road loops around in a circle.
Attached to that circle is a cul-de-sac.

On that cul-de-sac is a house with the same number as ours.
The house has the same number but a different road name in their address.
Often, packages meant for us would be delivered there or vice versa.
The house number was the only thing the delivery people looked at, I presume.

Wrong numbers.
Missed calls.
Texting the wrong person.
Getting the wrong mail or packages.

Our communication is not always as good as it should be.
You would think that with all of our technology we would get it right.
Often because we are human and make mistakes, we get it wrong.
We have to backtrack in order to remedy the situation.

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you say, ‘Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:1-10)

God wants us to speak to Him in prayer.
God wants to speak to us through His Word.
We can get our signals crossed when we try to communicate.
God never does.

God’s message is to whom He chooses.
God does not make mistakes.
God does not send the wrong message to the wrong person.
God is always there and ready to communicate with us.

Can you imagine if we prayed to God and He sent the answer to the wrong person?
Can you imagine if God was listening to too many people and couldn’t keep them straight?
Impossible!
We serve an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God.

God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever present God.
We serve a God who does not make mistakes.
We serve a God who never gets His children confused.
We serve a God who answers our prayers specifically with no errors and no mix-ups.

There are no wrong numbers.
Our prayers go directly to God and He answers.
Every time.
Our sovereign God answers correctly and perfectly.

What comfort to know that we serve such an awesome God.
How awesome to think that people everywhere are praying to God at the same time.
He is God and He can handle it.
He is God and He never makes mistakes.

There is never a busy signal.
We never get sent to His voicemail.
We never get a message that says that He is unavailable.
We pray to God; we are heard and we are answered.

Talk to God in prayer.
Listen to Him speak to you in His Word.
Listen to Him speak to your heart.
Answer Him the only way that is appropriate: Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.