No Cell Phones – She Believes 3

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

Our daughter spent six weeks of her summer vacation working at a camp this year. When she told us that she wanted to go and do this, my husband and I talked about it and after a few days of consideration we decided to go a long with the idea. Initially there was some reservation on our part, because we knew that after she had completed her school year she went straight into five weeks of Summer school, taking three courses, which was quite a load for a Summer session. We also knew that she was tired and she would need a break before her Fall session started back up. Working at camp would consume an additional five weeks of her Summer vacation, leaving her only one week off to rest up before starting back to school for the Fall.

Our next concern was that we really knew nothing about this camp. We had heard it mentioned here and there over the years, but never knew anything about it.

I just envisioned sending my daughter off into the woods for five weeks with a bunch of strange people that we did not know. She assured us that there would be other kids from her school that would be working there and that she would be just fine. Isn’t it amazing that no matter how old our children get, as parents we are still looking out for their well being, even though they are adults. We were trying our best not to hover over her head like helicopter parents, but we were having a slight struggle with this one. We decided to trust her judgment.

We prayed over our daughter before we drove she and her trunk full of bags off to camp.

When we arrived there were other campers being dropped off also. Although there were lots of kids from her school there, the only person that our daughter knew, had already been to camp to work the first Summer session which was before she arrived. This did not stop her, she was up for the adventure of making new friends.

Before we left, we met some of the camp leaders who were so kind as to invite us on a tour of the campgrounds. When we got back from the tour we could see that our daughter had already found a group of girls to hang out.

After dropping her off we decided to start our two hour journey back home. Everything was going along fine and we were thinking this is going to work out, until she called and said, ” I’m just calling now because I won’t get to talk to you all for a week. They will be taking our phones and we won’t get them back until this time next week.

At this particular camp the young adult staff and campers are only allowed their phones one day per week to call home. I must admit, the thought of this was a bit frightening to me. Just the thought that I would be totally detached from my child and that I could only talk to her when they gave her, her phone back was almost too much for me, especially since we did not know any of these people. This was definitely a rule that I did not care for. I kept thinking over and over suppose she really needs to call home or even call 911. She will not be able to, and then finally I realized, this is a faith test. I also realized at that moment that I was putting my faith in the cell phone to take care of her and not in God’s power to provide protection over her. I had allowed Satan an opportunity to thwart my faith with little arrows of fear. What a slap in the face this realization was! A true wake up call and an embarrassment that I had allowed myself to fall into his fear trap.

I remember, years ago when I was a child my parents taking me to a camp and dropping me off for a week. And guess what? There were no cell phones back then. They simply trusted that God would take care of me. I am not saying that they did not have fears or anxieties of some sort. Some of these feelings are just what parents go through from time to time. What I am saying is that, I had to trust that God would take care of my daughter as he always had. Because she had shifted geographically did not mean that He had changed who He was. His character was the same and He remains consistent. He provides for and protects His children no matter their location.

This little faith test was a huge revelation for me. I am sharing this story because there may be others that have a false sense of security when it comes to their cell phones. Some of us even go into panic mode when we go somewhere and realize that we accidentally left home and forgot to bring our phone. We have become so attached to these little rectangular devices that we rely on them to take care of us.

Please know that I am fully aware of how convenient it is to have a cell phone, and especially these days when they all seem to be mini computers. You can practically have your whole office in your pocket or purse. I must admit that I am very grateful for my cell phone and thankful for the person that invented it, but I also know that if my car suddenly stops on me and if my battery runs down in my phone, and I am out in the middle of no where, it is only King Jesus that can take care of me. Whether my phone is working or not, it is only He that can provide whatever I need.