Viruses and Restoration

I have some incredible news I have to share!!

So I have been having problems with my two month old laptop because I was foolish. I didn’t update my anti-virus after my one-month trial and got some nasty virus or trojan or something. After I got this virus on my computer it would not allow me to go to Norton or McAfee’s webpage to download an antivirus and clean it up. This happened about a week and a half ago on Monday or Tuesday. My brother came into town Friday and worked on it from Friday to Sunday and could do absolutely nothing to rid the computer of this virus! And he’s a whiz at stuff like this!

I have been kind of frustrated or down in other areas of my life and this just kind of added to it for many reasons but mainly because it looked like I was going to have to chunk this computer (or sell it for cheap) and buy a new one. See this computer was basically a gift to me for my mission work. It is a small $400 laptop but it does the job quite nicely! And because of my current situation, money isn't something I have to throw around, or even use to replace a laptop.

It doesn’t have a CD/DVD slot but I figured I didn’t need one. Well, in order to create a disc to totally restart my computer I had to have a DVD drive. I took my laptop to Best Buy and asked how much it would cost for them to totally restore my computer, deleting everything on it (including the problem) and start back over like my computer was new. $130! That was the cost. I had had my computer for just about two months and I was already going to have to pay a third of what the sucker cost in the first place! I asked the Geek Squad guy I was talking to if I could just do it myself. He said it’s possible so I bought a DVD drive for $80 that was necessary to make the restore DVD. I took it home plugged it in and the computer wouldn’t register it. I probably tried it twenty different times. Each time only brought more frustration!

I decided the problem must have been that I bought the wrong thing, so the next day I took it back and bought a smaller one. I tried it at least five times and it didn’t work. The computer wouldn’t register it when it was plugged in. I put my left hand on the DVD drive to see if I could feel it working at all and I put my right hand on my laptop to see if it was working and neither of them were doing a thing!

In all of my frustration, for the first time since this ridiculous virus appeared, I cried out to God over this. I just uttered a desperate, “Oh God please!!” And the DVD drive whirred to life and the computer began working and all of a sudden there was the “DING” that I had been waiting on for two days! The computer found the drive! NOW it was possible (but still not probable) that the computer could be fixed!

While both technologies were working I continued to pray, “Oh Jesus thank you! Oh Jesus! Jesus! Please let this work! Jesus!”

And it worked!

My heart was happy but it was so filled with joy! After so much money spent and so many attempts by several people, it looked like nothing could be done. Then my Lord stepped in when He heard my desperate cry over a silly thing like a computer, and I didn’t even cry out in faith but more so out of frustration and just totally feeling defeated.

I realized by seeing how quickly my attitude changed that (although I don’t believe I am often like this) lately I have let circumstances and events affect my attitude and my heart way more than they should. Should I let a broken computer steal my joy? Absolutely not! How silly!
So I stayed up quite late restoring my computer and yelling out a “praise Jesus!” every once and a while. After 11pm I looked at my clock and decided I really should get to bed as I had work early the next morning, but I wanted to stay in the moment, praising and worshiping my Lord in all His glory and grace that He would choose to restore my computer in the way that He did. Finally I could hold my eyes open no longer and I fell asleep.

I was awakened not too much later and felt like I should look up the verse I was supposed to be memorizing that week.

I say “supposed to” because earlier in the week when I saw what it was I thought, “Eh, that one’s overused!” People take it out of context and use it for their own self-satisfaction and I just decided I was going to skip it! The point of the verse was to give Assurance of Answered Prayer. And the verse was this:

“Until now, you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” John 16:24 (NIV)

And it totally overwhelmed me! I had not memorized the verse and when I read it, true amazement swept over me like warm water. It could have said this:

Sandra,
Until this moment when you laid your hands on your computer and called out to me (even in your little faith) you had not asked Me to fix your computer. Just ask me and you will receive and I will make your joy so totally complete you won’t even want to sleep!

Did God restore my computer to make me feel good? No probably not, although I think He probably enjoyed that. My reactions and heart were probably like they used to be on Christmas morning! But I think that He did take the opportunity to display His power and who He truly is. I think that He used that moment to make that verse totally applicable so I wouldn’t pick and choose what verses are “good” and “bad.” I think that He displayed His power so that I might see the truth in this verse rather than what the world and worldly pastors and teachers have made it out to be- 'a gimme gimmick!'

God is good. He is holy. He is just. He is righteous. He is merciful. And good gosh-a-mosey, He is certainly gracious! His Word is true, although what we perceive is true may be somewhat skewed due to experience or what we hear. But God in all of His goodness, will do what He needs to in order to allow us to see and experience Him and His Word as they were meant to be! How incredible!

And isn’t it funny, at the same time my computer was restored, I found restoration in my faith, in my joy and in my relationship with the Lord. And now I have assurance that God indeed does answer prayers! (Even the puniest ones!)

Now I can continue with my budgeting, Ghana mission updates, journaling, communicating with believers, keeping track of mission supporters and an occasional game of solitaire.