From the Heart with Ronny Keller Michel

BEEEEEP. “Hey, Daddy, this is Ronny. The grapes are good right now and just $.99 per pound. Go and get some.”

This is just one of numerous messages on my parents’ answering machine each day. There are many calls form friends, relatives, recovering addicts, addicts who aren’t sure if they will ever recover, and people with various problems. But, I’d like to share just a few of the calls they receive from their grown children and their growing grandchildren.

€ “Hey, Dad, would you bring the kids to school today?”

€ “Mom, Brittany has an orthodontist appointment. Are you busy?”

€ ” Daddy, Victoria needs to be at the dentist in five minutes and Michael can’t find his keys. Can you help?”

€ “Dad, I forgot my lunch. Don’t worry, my kids remembered theirs, but I’m hungry. Would you bring my lunch to my classroom?”

€ “Mama, David has practice today. Can you get him to the gym by 4?”

€ ” Paw Paw, I’ve got to go and my parents aren’t home. Would you come over and watch Victoria and Elise.”

€ “Ma, I’m going to the mall. Do you want to come? Ma, are you there…I’m hanging on in case you’re there…Pick up the phone if you’re there…Mama, I’m still hanging on…”

As I thought of these, I wondered what the message on God’s answering machine must be like. Can you imagine…?

€ “Could you please send me a puppy?”

€ “Please let this baby be born TODAY!”

€ “Help me not to eat another piece of cake, or at least help me not to eat the end piece with all the frosting.”

€ “Lord, please heal my marriage.”

€ “Father, spread your wings over our soldiers and guide our leaders.”

€ “Thank You, thank You, thank You for healing me!”

€ “I can endure this torture today for Your Name, but please strengthen me for tomorrow.”

€ “God, I know that it’s been a long time, but I need to talk to You. Are you there? I’m so sorry for what I did and I need Your help…are You there? Oh, good, thanks for taking my call. It all started when…”

Of course, this is fictional. God doesn’t have an answering machine, but I think that He has a cell phone. All I know is that whenever I call, He answers. Do you have His phone number? Some say that it’s Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

The extension that I’ve been using lately is Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” Give Him a call. He’d love to hear from you. In fact, Proverbs 15:8 states that “the prayer of the upright is His delight.” Our prayers rise up as incense before His throne and He stores our tears in a bottle. He’s waiting to hear from you.

I once asked my dad if he returned all of his calls. I was not the least bit surprised to find out that he does, and a peek at his phone bill testifies to that fact. If my earthly father has time for all of these calls…ranging from the totally trivial to much weightier matters…how much more will our Heavenly Father listen to the pleas of His children.

So give Him a call. You’ll never get a busy signal and He’ll never put you on hold. With the frequency of my calls, I’m just glad that Heaven is a toll free number.