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The Default Button

I'm not a computer person.  I know how to turn one on, turn it off, post a few things on social media and Hey!  I even have a blog!  But if my computer crashes, gives me an error message, or comes up with some other new venture to explore, I'm usually asking my kids or hubby for their help.  Oh, I've journeyed into trying to fix some issues myself, and I've even occasionally been successful, but I always know I've gone too far when the message pops up, "would you like to restore to default settings"? Duh.  Of course I would.  Oh--but wait--will that get rid of that other program I just installed?  What about my latest downloads?  What about my favorite screen saver?  Did I remember to save that paper I was just working on?  Will I be able to find my websites?  I had them saved in my favorites.....oh crumb!  What do I do?  DO I STILL HAVE ALL MY PICTURES?????

 Here is the definition I found in the dictionary:
         " Default (in computing):  the preset selection of an option offered by a system, which will always be followed except when explicitly altered."
I've thought about that in regards to my personal life.  Sometimes I wish there was a default button I could push to make things go back to how they were, but I'm not always sure that's the best thing for me.  It's easier, it's more comfortable and I don't have to stretch myself.  I know that territory well. The problem with this is that I don't grow when I reach for what is comfortable.

What about you?  What is your default setting?  Maybe you've been learning and growing in grace, but something happens and and you default back to legalism.  Perhaps that critical mindset is much easier for you to embrace than a forgiving one.  Maybe you've been dealing with a bad habit and you've been doing well, but now you've grown weary of trying to 'kick the habit", so you default to your old ways.  Maybe that relationship you've been working on is requiring too much effort, so you fall back into doing things as you've always done them.  You've learned to trust in the Lord, for his provision in your life, but anxiety is what you know best, so feeding those anxious thoughts somehow gives temporary soothing to you.  There are so many more scenarios I could post here, but this is just a few to get you thinking.  We all have them.  We all prefer the default button on our lives, but we really are called to more.

This fall, our family had the privilege of watching a Monarch caterpillar grow, change and eventually turn into a butterfly.  It was amazing to watch.  But do you know that once the butterfly emerged from its chrysalis it no longer resembled its former self?  Everything about it was different and it even acted differently.  The only thing that the caterpillar and the butterfly had in common were similar coloring  .In the same way, as new creatures, we no longer resemble our old selves.  2 Corinthians 5:17 states, " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come."(HCSB)  Look! We are NEW creations if we are in Christ Jesus!  We are not remade, redone, or rebooted.  We are NEW! Old things have passed away---there is no restoring the default settings of our lives.  We now move forward to the things God has for us.  It means trusting that He knows what he is doing and we don't have to lean back into the comfortable chair of default settings.  Instead, we get to settle in the arms of a loving Father who knows our true self--knows what we were--and knows what he intends for us to become!






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