Coding

This morning I had a dream. In the dream I found myself viewing HTML (HyperText Markup Language) coding or the ability of a person to build a web page. For someone such as myself who has been involved in the internet and the building of pages (Well, since Al Gore invented it…) this dream was interesting.

In coding there are a lot of things you do not see. These codes or strings of code, determine everything from font color, style or size, to where a picture or column is located. For instance, <font color=”red”>will give you this 6.

In the dream I saw the hand of the Lord touching people behind the scenes, putting code in lives. There was also code that was predetermined through birth or DNA (a code of its own that determines genetics like hair coloring, size, etc…) and then there is additional code which has a lot to do with what you put in your life.

In many respects, our lives are often like what we may now call a web page. A web page for the most part operates on three levels. The operating system (what you do not see.), the output or page(what you do see) and the “personalized” page that reflects answers you may have given in the past or choices you have made.

Life is a lot like that and I saw it in the dream.

The Operating System or OS
There is a code that runs the whole site. That may be more like what the Lord puts in to “run the whole system. And then there is the individual code of the page that has a lot of similarities to DNA coding. And then there is an additional process that revolves around forms where you may be asked for email addresses, etc.. The information you put in here determines what you may receive in coming days, etc..

One of the things I have noticed is our “operating system” or what goes on behind the scenes, never changes. God died as you and an operating system of God is always at work in your life. Whether you accept it or see it is irrelevant. You can choose never to see the wonder of what He does. You can be content only with what is in your life and what you do.

The Web Page
Then you walk in the DNA or the output of your parents and the generations before you. You may resemble Aunt Tilly or Poppa Don. You may act like your father or smile like your mama. There is little you can change outside of reconstructive surgeries, additions or subtractions. It is interesting that many are concerned with this to the extent that perhaps billions are spent in this area to change the visual or the “page” itself. So many work to get away from the “code.” It is here that appearance is changed, corrupted or distorted.

Personalization
The data entry of personal information builds a database that becomes uniquely you to even further extent. It can be the result of upbringing, education or culture.

When I gave my life over to the Lord I was given what can only be called a new “operating system.” It was more than an upgrade. Everything became different. (Scripture tells us that once we were “darkness.”) Up until that point my operating system was “corrupt” and my output corrupt. With this new operating system, many things changed. Not all, but many. Instantly it was like the Lord removed my database of profanity. On the hand I would try to reverse or operate this new system from the direction of the old with results that were less than productive.

I still had the DNA of parents and the personalization of experience, but now I had to run it on a different system. I found that some of my favorite “programs” I had used no longer produced or in some cases no longer existed.

In the dream the hand of the Lord was giving not just “upgrades” but new systems of operation. I felt the Lord saying “this is a day of great harvest. The corruptions of this world are not what you are to be concerned with. Be concerned with the newness of the operating system.” Too often we bring people out of their culture and encourage them to do what they have always done…but differently! We need to put emphasis on Him and not the output or the result. Christ and Christianity is not self help. The best “coding” in the world will not and cannot run without a proper operating system.

I am not being disrespectful or irreverent of Christ. He is the “system” that made way for my corrupt ways to change. It was not for lack of trying I had been unable to accomplish these things before Him. Let us stop trying to change the person. That job belongs to Christ and Christ alone. Let us not see conformity to a system of “proper” output but let us seek the transformational change that comes with Christ.

Encourage the operating system change and you will see the results. Stop focusing on the output of people and concentrate on He who can change.