The process of disconnecting.

Over the last few months I have watched an trend. It is one of two that I have noticed. Both are “negative” trends capitulated by the enemy. The first one I want to address is the “disconnect”.

Disconnecting or the disconnect in its simplest form, means that something is no longer connected. It means to stop or end the supply of something. (We often talk about electricity being disconnected.) So in March I began to see people being disconnected. I thought, “Time to pray” and that is what I did.

Now many believe you can be “disconnected” from the Lord. That is NOT what I am talking about. (Nor do I believe it. He will never leave you or forsake you…)

Last night in a dream, an old store manager and I were investigating the loss of business. We looked at the front of the building and the building was beautiful. Why was business dropping off? We drove down the beautiful street, making a left. The houses all looked pretty. Yards were well kept and looked amazing. We made yet another left and that is where it began to change. The road switched to dirt. Because you could not see the back of the building, even I, became unsure as to whether this was right. The drive began to hook to the left and there was a large outbuilding. It was hard to tell if one should continue down this narrow road, or was was there another way? We continue on and there was the back of the building. Just as pretty as the front.

We got out of the car and in conversation, I began to ask about friends each of us knew. The answers ranged from, “I don’t know” to “they moved” (left, died, etc..) and he knew nothing about them of recent days. As we wandered out towards the large outbuilding, there was a little old lady. I knew here immediately. I asked her “how she was doing” and walked over to her. The man with me knew she had been recently robbed. (As well as injured.) That her husband had been forced to go back to work. As I surveyed her yard, I saw the years of devotion she had placed in the garden. Each flower belonged where it was. Each color harmonized with another. The beds were orderly and neat. The stone walls missing not a rock. The walkways between the sections were well maintained and the plans glowed with vitality.

Yet, here she was. Walking the long way to get into her home. Hobbling from a recent accident. And as much as she looked happy to see us there was pain in her eyes.

I awoke from the dream.

I realized that this was yet another example of the isolation of the enemy. (Yet, this woman continued to keep her home beautiful in the midst of a trying season.)

Some things I gleaned from dream and my observations.

• The disconnect is for but a season.
• You can maintain decorum in the midst of it.
• The possibility of loss, misinformation and lack of communication is high.
• It doesn’t have to happen!
• It is up to us to overcome.

Now some might think that is too simple and perhaps on some level it is. But that is the real thoughts.

Here are some additional ones to open us up to His plan. I recognize that the current economy and cultural climate is overwhelming at this point on many levels. What you thought might be is not looking like that. Children have come home. Parents have not retired. (Or opted for disability and retirement.) Downsizing has happened.

But, as believers we have the keys to the kingdom. We have the openers to treasure that includes health, restoration and renewal. We do not have to accede to the works of the enemy or the situations of the times. We can overcome, even occupy.

The last few days, I have been able to reconnect with my sister Liz, who returned from her time in Nicaragua. She is motivated to helping women in third world countries. She has seen a need and made the decision to fill it. She uses her hands to help them have floors in their homes, walls in the house and roofs that do not leak.

Our need is not so much the needs of ourselves, but the idea of moving people to a thinking of goodness and joy. To do that we must be in connection.

My prayer is that we, the people of God would pick ourselves up and change the world.

Are you feeling disconnected? Have circumstances pulled you away from others? Like the little woman who was robbed, you do NOT have to allow the walls of you existence crumble, but you can maintain that which is good in your own life, so that others might see and might benefit. The idea of being connected requires proactive thought process on our part. We do not need to slip beneath the wave, but ought to consider the ride on the waves. The mentality that says I can walk on the top!

Lest you think I do not “get it” I have just come through a short season of huge learning curves, overwhelming circumstances and changes in my day to day existence. But to not be connected was and is a trap of the enemy. Turn your disconnect and discontent into an appetite of seeing lives changed and reconnection occur.

No device operates when not “plugged” in. And people need people. We were wired for community. No plant survives for long without the nutrients and minerals supplied by the seedbed. The same holds true for us. We are the people of the body of Christ, planted in the community of believers. A seedbed of community and grace. Do not allow the enemy to remove you.

Today as you go through your day, meditate not on the isolation, but open your eyes to His plan for you today. Jeremiah 29:11 For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.

You were never disconnected from the Lord. But perhaps your life has allowed you to be disconnected from His people, from His life through others. Today is a day of re-connections. For years we heard about the need for connections. The Lord is blowing on the reconnect. You will see things shift and move and light will come in. I hear “Do not despise small beginnings”. It may not be all, but it is the start you have been seeking, been needing.

The second tactic of the enemy can be found here.