Call Waiting

By Hope Wilbanks

Technology is sometimes too good for its own use. 

During one of the many telephone calls that I share with a special friend, the infamous “beep” of another incoming call interrupted our conversation once again. In the beginning, this never bothered me. But I reached a point where I began to wonder if she realized how rude this constant interruption of being put on hold was.

I don't think I can remember a time when I called her and had a telephone conversation that was not interrupted by a waiting caller. It seems as if the beeping of another call coming in controls her. 

In the beginning, getting put on hold never bothered me. Slowly though, it evolved to the point of rudeness. Instead of asking, “Can you hold a minute?” she quickly blurts out that the phone is beeping and I am told, “Hang on a minute,” while she clicks over so fast that I don't even get the chance to say, “Okay.”

I consider this behavior quite rude, to be honest. It appears as though her telephone etiquette flew out the window with manners. As much as I love this friend, talking on the phone with her is frustrating and tiring because of the discourteous conduct.

The quickness that she clicks over with, which leaves me with a silent line to my ear, is puzzling.  I realized that she knows that I'll usually still be waiting on the other line when she finishes with the new call. She also knows that if I'm not waiting for her to return to our call, that most of the time I'll just call her back later to finish the conversation. It's all extremely frustrating, yet I allow myself to remain in that never-ending cycle.

Then I thought about how this relates to my relationship with God. How many times have I put God on hold?

In the middle of a conversation with God, just when He's about to tell me something important, I stop Him. “Oops! Sorry God! Someone else needs me right now. Hang on a second.”

I “click” over to another “line” and put our conversation on hold. But when I'm finished with the interruption, something else comes along. By the time I get back to God (if I even get back to Him that day!), I don't even remember where we were in our conversation. So I start over from the beginning.

“Hello, Hope.  I wish you weren't so busy. I wish we could have a conversation without all the interruptions,” God says to me.

“I know, God. I'm sorry,” I reply. I retreat into prayer, when suddenly call waiting “beeps” in again.  “Uh-oh, God! The baby's crying. Hang on a minute!”

Surely God gets tired of this.

“Sorry, Lord, the clothes need to be put in the dryer.”

“Hang on a second, God, I have to go cook supper.”

“Just a minute, Jesus, it's time to check my email.”

Time after time we put God on hold and never realize it. Yet He still waits patiently for us to return to Him. He doesn't pour out His wrath upon us for neglecting Him, though He could. He doesn't chastise us for hurriedly dropping our time with Him to rush off to more “important” things.

He stays there, waiting.

Many times what we have to offer God is our “leftovers.” We live each day in a mad rush to do all the little things that we feel are important, only giving God what is left at the end of the day.  And let's be honest. After work, family, and endless responsibilities, that isn't much.

The next time you are interrupted during your prayer time, bible-reading time, or meditation on God, remember the lesson of call waiting. Yes, God will still be waiting when/if you return, but doesn't He deserve more than a hasty conversation, filled with sporadic interruptions? Let's simply give Him a few moments of our time without interruption.