By Chaplain Joy Le Page Smith, MA

I ordered a coffee table from Amazon for our backyard patio that has LED. What fun imagining a coffee table that can provide a light show while sipping the brew.

Soon a big box was at our door. A friend helped Gary put it together. Wow! It took them no time at all to have the table in one piece versus seven. Trouble came when they turned the LED part over to me.

At first I thought, “Hum. This looks straightforward . . . every word was written in five other languages . . . Ignore that. I have an image to preserve—I can do this.”

A problem arose as I looked at the pictures of electrical parts, wiring and— oops—maybe something is missing, here. The drawings showed a laptop and a small rectangular device I figured to be a smart phone. I thought, “Interesting. The table lights will run off a PC or smartphone, or a tablet.” Fine. My little tablet is well encased. It can serve well outside perpetually. No weather worries.

Now the dilemma is what kind of cord has a USB adapter on one end with an opposite end that will accommodate my tablet. Searching through my box of cords with varied ends—nothing could be found to bring together the table’s USB cord and my tablet. No marriage could be arranged.

I called the table’s manufacturer and reached a person named “Grace” who cared very much about my concern that a part was missing—maybe a cord? What, with “Grace” and “Joy” involved, all should be possible? She retrieved an instruction book for the table, yet it did not match mine. I then emailed Grace the pictures I was seeing in my booklet. Both of us were determined to figure this out. Yet, after three phone calls and two emails I decided to call my friend Rich who is close by—and superbly enriched with technical knowledge. He and I talked “cord talk” for a while. Then I emailed pictures to him of the ends of the cords I had on hand plus a picture of the LED wiring for the table.

A moment or two passed. Then Rich said, “Have you tried using a wall plug?”

What? A wall plug. Wait. Let me cogitate . . . I was muttering internally as light was reaching the upstairs of my noggin. “Do you mean all I have to do is plug that USB into the wall?”

Now I’m howling. Too funny to believe. I was stuck on “a missing cord” or “adapter of some kind” that could fit one of the digital devices pictured in the instructions–making it way too hard. My mental fog was so thick I was missing the mighty power source, so readily available–yet, out of sight!

Isn’t this true in life? We want to get things done—reach our capacity and live it with all the digital finery we can bring to our lives. We are about achieving and creating a destiny that fits who we are and what we enjoy. Alongside that lays an available “instruction book”—the Bible—presenting all that is needed for the eternal part of ourselves. It is almost too handy.

So many things clamor in our minds for attention . . . making it hard for us to value the greatest of all power sources . . . God, the Creator of all, aiming to be the light of our lives supplying all the power we will ever need—plus making life much simpler.  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” (Romans 15:13).

About the author: Joy Le Page Smith is a Board certified clinical chaplain. Her articles and blogs are read in 32 countries. Joy’s four books are available on her home page at Healing-with-Joy.com where readers can view her children’s book titled, The Little Mountain Goat Who Was Afraid of High Places.