We’ve all been there! It’s a quiet moment in church. Like prayer time. Or the preacher is really getting into the groove in his sermon.
And a cell phone goes off.
Everyone looks around wondering whose phone it is. Some people can’t believe the nerve of the person for not turning the sound off their phone before church. Some think it’s amusing to look around and see who it belongs to. Some are instantly paranoid that it could be their phone. Some remember times when their phone went off in church and they’ve wanted to crawl under the pew to hide!
But cell phones going off in church (or anywhere else) do not bother me as much as they once did.
Recently, a church administrator friend of mine told me a story…
He was sitting in church really into the morning and feeling the Spirit moving when someone’s phone started ringing. And they answered it in the service!! He was immediately distracted, annoyed and ticked off at the irresponsible person who was disturbing the service. It really got to him.
After the service, he went up to the preacher and mentioned the phone going off. Surely the preacher would be angry too! Phones going off during sermons had to be a pet peeve of the preacher! The preacher calmly looked at him and said that it was actually a really great thing that the phone rang! It was an answered prayer! The owner of the phone had been waiting on that call for a long time! They had been on an organ transplant list for years, and when their phone rang, it was the hospital telling them that the organ that they needed was ready! This person had to answer that call! It was a life-changing call!
Now, the vast majority of times, phones going off are not that much of an emergency. But sometimes they are.
We let ourselves get worked up about so many small things, don’t we? I know I do! I’m sad to say that sometimes it doesn’t take much to rile me up!
But I’m thankful for friends, stories, etc. who help me see different perspectives.
There is always more to things and life than meets the eye!
Stephanie Carroll 