My father recently purchased one of the new iPhone 4 smartphones hoping to now have a superior communication device. However, he has grown increasingly frustrated with the poor reception and number of dropped calls he has experienced since using the new iPhone 4. While he and my mother share the same service provider my mother’s phone, albeit just a regular non-smart phone, gets significantly better reception than my dad’s iPhone 4. After taking the iPhone 4 up to the storefront where my dad purchased the mobile device a sales representative informed him that the thin metal band which wraps around the iPhone 4 is responsible for the poor reception. He then added that Steve Jobs knew about this problem before releasing the device, but liked the way the metal band astatically looked on the iPhone 4 so he insisted on keeping it. After doing some simple online research of my own and even watching a demonstration on YouTube I discovered that if a user’s fingers touch the metal band wrapped around the iPhone 4 the bars representing the signal strength can drop from 5 down to 1. Apple has realized this mistake and plans to make a change in the new iPhone coming out later in the spring.
This scenario reminded me of times in my life that I have allowed sin or other things to interfere in my communication with God. Instead of removing those things from my life that I knew were not good for my walk with the Lord I insisted upon them because I either liked the way they looked or felt. I placed my will, what I wanted, above God’s will, which is what was best for me. I allowed my own desires to come between me and my relationship with Jesus Christ. To get right down to it I knowingly chose to limit my “reception” with Jesus because I wanted my own will over His. Ultimately, this has and will continue to cause me a lot of frustration in life, just like the thin metal band has caused frustration for so many iPhone 4 users. If I want my “reception” and communication with God to increase I have to make the conscious decision to do what is best by removing those things that I know are causing interference, confess my sin(s), and ask Jesus to forgive me. Doing so will not only restore my "reception" and enable me to avoid a lot of frustration, but will help me achieve God’s will and plan for my life.
