If anyone gets to know me very well one of the first things they’d probably note is that I like things to be simple and make sense. And when something goes against that or I don’t understand, I’ll problem-solve to understand or fix it as best I can. (This is probably a good indicator of control-freak behavior.😅)
So let me explain what happened recently…
I was trying to simplify my phone—get rid of extra things I no longer needed on it. When I went into the phone settings and discovered (under my Apple ID) that there were several former phones of mine still listed from the past five or so years I decided I’d ‘simply’ delete them. To me it seemed reasonable to have only my current phone connected to my Apple ID. So off went two or three old phones and when I came to the listing that read IOS (and whatever else after it) I thought, “well I have no idea what this one is, don’t recognize the name, out it goes!!!”
Within seconds my current phone, as I held it in my hands, began progressively and ambitiously deleting. And there was not a thing I could do to stop it!!!!
My phone was almost instantly back to fresh, right out of the box, factory mode.
“Okay! Easy!” I thought to myself, “I’ll just reload it by inserting my Apple ID password and everything will flood back in.”
However, thinking I knew my password after three different tries, Apple locked me out! For security reasons! For two weeks!! Not even an Apple representative could override my issue even though I had backup verification methods.
I’d love to report that I dealt with this like a sweet, mature Christian gal—but far from it. I was so irritated, realizing I had none of my contacts, no email, or apps, no iCloud, and all 6,000 plus pics gone. Basically I had a working phone but with absolutely no personalized settings.
I did soon discover though that since I knew passwords to my email, WordPress and some other things I use, that I could still access them after bringing them up through Google. In the end it worked out fine but felt inconvenient and wasn’t my typical, simple style of doing things. First-world problems, I know.
I finally was offered to reset my Apple ID password on Wednesday (after the two weeks) and wasted no time in doing so and am happy to say all is back in working order on my phone.
I share this because I actually hadn’t realized how personalized my phone is until this happened. Over the years of having an iPhone I’ve been able to choose which apps to have or not have on my phone, which numbers to save with a name or not, and so on.
We’re ridiculously, nearly pathetically, spoiled when it comes to our phones. We personalize them in the way we best see fit. And most of us probably take this for granted until things go haywire.
I always try and pull a life lesson from my experiences—the good ones and the bad ones and here’s what I’ve reflected on through this particular one…
As a Christian, what I put into my faith journey is up to me. I can choose to draw closer to the Lord or on the flip side lazily trail behind. I decide if I’m going to read my Bible this day or let it sit on the table collecting dust. I pick if I’ll pray before a meal or let my “hanger” take over—with me plunging a fork into my meal before even considering a word of thanks. Reaching out to others with love and care, that’s also my own choice.
Just like I choose how I want to personalize my phone, every day I get to choose how I’m going to personalize my faith.
And if I’m honest sometimes I really stink at it. There are times when worry or fear overtake my thought patterns and prayer is far from my arsenal of choice. On numerous occasions, my impatience has resulted in un-concentrated Bible reading rather than soaking in the heartfelt words of Jesus. When I initially chatted with the Apple representative over my own phone foul-up, he experienced Raging Alicia rather than Compassionate Alicia.
These things mold my faith journey for better or worse. All of it matters and makes for how I’m choosing to personalize my faith.
Just like my phone went to factory reset settings so it will be when Jesus’ returns to call home those who have placed their faith in Him. For some, there will be a time when it’ll be too late to decide to follow Jesus. Personalizing our life with Him as Lord and Savior will have made an extraordinary difference. For the ones who haven’t chosen to place their faith in Him, their lives will be as useless as an old iPhone with no identity or personalization linked to Him.
I’m reminded of Jesus’ words regarding the servant in Matthew 25:21a, ‘well done, good and faithful servant!…’
As Christians we’re servants of God, and it’s absolutely our choice how we’ll personalize our faith. It doesn’t always look simple, the way I usually prefer, in fact it’s often times the opposite BUT through Jesus it will always make sense as we trust His leading.
Are we personalizing our faith and pressing into Jesus in a position where we’ll one day hear, ‘well done, good and faithful servant?!’
For His Purpose 
I can picture you with your phone little sister. It is interesting how much we depend on them these days. I remember when there were no ‘smart phones’.
When Jesus returns for us, that will be a wonderful day. What a reset- no more pain, no more sickness, no more troubles
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Yes Amen!! You spoke more of the words I was thinking…I could’ve made a chapter out of this post!!
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I find ways to get tested as well. My phone is outdated and so is the computer. My test was going on a 5 day wilderness trip last year and I grabbed the wrong SD cards for the camera. 30 minutes with customer service (the Lord) and I was ok (most of the time).
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❤️customer service (the Lord)….I love that…He just humbly stays on the other end of the line patiently waiting for us to submit regardless of if we agree…. And the thing is He’s always right and we eventually come to learn a lesson from the situation if we’ve paid attention.
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Alicia, I can relate to what you might have felt when your phone started deleting things automatically and then getting locked out. I am not the best with these sort of things and always tend to forget passwords. Thankfully my hubby is. I like the lesson you share from this if personalising your faith. It is up to us how much we put into our faith Journey and I too want to hear the Lord say ‘ well done good and faithful servant’.
Blessings 💙💐
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Yes I like to get upset with the phone when “it” messes up but really it’s operator error!!😉
Thanks for reading Manu!!❤️
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Oh dear, we are so tethered to our electronics. For me it’s my phone and my iPad. I remember the day my husband gave the iPad to me, I thought “what am I going to do with this?” Now here I am on it too much of every day. I love your words “ Just like I choose how I want to personalize my phone, every day I get to choose how I’m going to personalize my faith.” Such a stark reminder of our need to appropriately prioritize every day. Thank you for sharing Alicia.
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I like how you said “a reminder of our need to appropriately prioritize every day”….we’ve gotta keep Jesus first but
it’s a sad reality how addictive these electronic devices can be!!
Thank you for reading, Cecilia! May we be an encouragement to one another to personalize our faith in this ever-crazy electronic driven world!!
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Oh, Alicia, this is rich! I just love how you use your life experiences to point to your faith walk. And this: “Just like I choose how I want to personalize my phone, every day I get to choose how I’m going to personalize my faith.” That’s profound, in a nutshell! With me, so often personalizing my faith takes some sacrifice on my part…sacrifice of time, especially. Or like you said, showing Christ by my reactions and attitudes to life’s frustrations. I could go on and on, but you said it all so perfectly. Thank you! This lesson will stay with me. Bless you!
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Thank you, Patty!! Ya writing this made me realize it could easily make a book! So many parallels and life lessons to draw from our phones because they unfortunately have a huge influence in our lives. Makes me realize we must be so very intentional at keeping Christ first and foremost…our choice to personalize our faith!!!!
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Moral of the Story:
Sometimes it is better to leave things alone!
I’ve had to learn this the hard way!
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Yes very true, Barb!!
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Even when we really mess things up, God is gracious and gives us away of escape, in your case, Google for accessing WordPress and a few other things. So glad your back with all your contacts and apps! Blessings with technology!
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Yes, He indeed cares and provides for us 24/7…more often than we realize!!
Thanks for reading and commenting!
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You’re welcome!😊
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Sot on, Alicia. You said it well. These moments, whether good or bad, do mold your faith by the experience of it all. Coming out the other side then looking back to observe what was learned, and how Jesus held your hand through the confusion and rage. It’s a good reminder. Glad it all worked out. God’s grip – Alan
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Thank you, Alan!! We always are given opportunities to learn and grow! May we make the most of them!
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***”spot on”. I hate software.
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Haha same!!
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I’m often afraid to touch anything on my devices for fear of this kind of experience! I’m a read luddite when it comes to technology. I’m not sure Compassionate Debi would have replaced Raging Debi as quickly as this transformation happened for you. LOL
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Lol daily we’re offered numerous opportunities to practice being humble and patient…our phones being a top source for teaching us in the midst of our sometimes ignorance.
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I too got locked out of one of my computer apps and had to wait those 2 weeks in order to access it again. (Can’t remember if it was email, Google, or what.) It was extremely frustrating! Perhaps I’ll handle the stress better next time, keeping in mind your wise lesson: “Just like I choose how I want to personalize my phone, every day I get to choose how I’m going to personalize my faith.” I want to personalize mine with the calm and gentle spirit Peter talked about (2 Peter 3:3-4)!
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