Delivered to Hope Church on September 12, 2010

If you know me, you know that I spend much of my daily life submerged in technology and things related to technology. Being that my predilection for technology is fairly common knowledge, I frequently get asked about the latest gadgets, computer software, phones, trends, etc. Yesterday I was asked about “The Cloud”. The Cloud is the latest trend in computing and if you haven’t yet heard about, rest assured that you will. The Cloud is an intentionally nebulous term that references the internet. In its broadest sense, The Cloud is the internet. Cloud Computing is becoming the new way to use computers, phones, tablets, etc. and basically means that your data or your computer programs, or both are not on your physical computer. The live on the internet somewhere, in the cloud. You never see them but always have access to them. There are some tremendous benefits to working this way:

• Tremendous processing power is on hand instantly, any time you need it.
• Managing your computer becomes much simpler since nothing needs to be installed or updated.
• All of your applications and files are available no matter where you are, even if you use a different computer.
• Your computer can be smaller and cheaper because it no longer needs to do the processing.

After describing this new paradigm that we are transitioning to in the computer world I thought that there are some interesting parallels to the conversion we undergo as Christians. As non-Christians, our lives tend to be complicated because of everything we have to be worried about and in control of. Our lives need constant maintenance, updates, patches, antivirus, etc. When something in our lives breaks, we scramble to find the fix anywhere we can – medication, psychiatrists, self-help books, etc.

A Christian’s life is supposed to be much simpler and closer to the ideal cloud computing environment –

• We have tremendous power at hand any time we need it. We just need to ask.
• Our lives aren’t problem free by a longshot, but the solution to our problems should be more evident and accessible.
• God is always available, no matter where we are.
• Our lives should be more streamlined as we rely on God for direction and support.

Of course, our God is far more capable and mighty than any cloud computing solution we could even imagine. He knows our hearts and minds, our fears and desires and loves us and desires for us to have a relationship with Him. Truly amazing!

Psalm 139 (New Living Translation)
¹O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. ²You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. ³You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. ⁴You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. ⁵You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. ⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! ⁷I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! ⁸If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
⁹If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, ¹⁰even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. ¹¹I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— ¹²but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. ¹³You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. ¹⁵You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. ¹⁷How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! ¹⁸I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!