"G.F.I."

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
(Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB)

I pulled in the driveway, grateful to be home after a five-day conference. I pressed the remote and the garage door rolled open. Blood trickled toward me as I stepped from my car. I knew immediately what had happened—the freezer had gone out. All the meat had thawed and the bloody, watery juices had drained out of the freezer into a maroon stream that slowly ran toward the driveway. 

Mark, my husband, was out of town. I stood in my garage disgusted and slightly freaked out. What did I do? Of course, I called my husband for help. I didn’t care if it was late and there was a three-hour time difference.

He patiently said, “Check the G.F.I.”

“The what?”

“The ground fault interrupter. It’s in the electrical outlet where the freezer is plugged in.”

Sure enough, the G.F.I. had tripped and shut down the freezer. Nothing was wrong with the freezer, except now it had hundreds of dollars of rotting meat sitting inside. Because of a G.F.I., my evening turned from one of anticipated relaxation to hours of vexing cleanup.

Isn’t our faith like that, too? We are believing and trusting the Lord, when all of a sudden something happens—G.F.I—God Faith Interrupter. Our faith trips and we melt down like a gallon of vanilla ice cream in a hot garage.

It’s certainly difficult to understand the twists and turns in our journey of faith. When a God Faith Interrupter occurs, we need to grope in the darkness for verses to assure us that regardless of our circumstance, the Lord is loving, He is merciful, and He will guide us. God Faith Interrupters might shake our faith. They will be scary. They certainly will be unexpected and uncomfortable, but the Lord holds the charge of power to uphold our faith even when it shuts down temporarily.

Express to the Lord your fear of a God Faith Interrupter. Then thank Him that He will be with you, showing you mercy and loving-kindness, no matter what happens in this life.

Whispers from the Heart:

Dear Lord, I prefer those times when my life goes smoothly. However, I ask for an extra measure of faith when my life takes a twist and moves off the planned path. Teach me to trust Your sovereignty in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2008 By Susanne Scheppmann. All rights reserved. To Comment on this devotional, please contact us.