I Am NOT a Hotline...

^"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  Philippians 4:6 NIV

There's one thing I've learned that I hate.  That's answering phones.  As a teen, I was constantly using the telephone.  One may have thought it was connected to my head.  I didn't mind answering the telephone because there was great chance that the call was for me.  The later the call, the more likely the chance.  But now that I have a job that requires me to answer phone calls, I notice how much I hate it.  The reasons why I hate it:
1. It interrupts my work.  Whatever I am doing is now put on hold to answer the phone call.  What if I have the memory of a fish and forget what I was doing?  What if I had a prolific thought and the ringing phone caused me to lose it?  Ugh!  Stupid phone...
2. People don't care about your time or that prolific thought you just lost.  All they care about is their inquiry, which leads me to number 3.
3. No one asks simple questions.  The questions are usually followed with unnecessary information.  Whenever I hear the word "because", I know I'm in for a Lifetime movie plot.  For example:
Me: "Good morning.  Thank you for calling xxx.  How may I direct your call?"  (Notice I did not ask WHY the person is calling.)
Caller: "I need to speak someone about a pair of shoes I need to return..."

Here it comes...

"...because when I wore them to my grandmother's house, she has to have hardwood floors because her walker doesn't slide as easy across carpet, they made the most horrible squeaking noises on the hardwood floors and I can't wear these things anywhere that isn't carpeted.  And at work, we have linoleum floors so I'm sure they'll make that same noise and I can't have that noise everywhere I walk at work and I do a lot of walking, it's a hospital and...

Me: (awakes from slumber) "Let me transfer you to that department."

So, in short, if you call me, keep it simple.  I am not a hotline.  That may sound a bit harsh, but it's honesty and let's be honest, you feel the same way.

Thankfully, we serve a God who is a hotline.  He listens to each and everyone of our situations.  And while He doesn't want us to be simple as in short and vague, He does want us to be simple as in plain and simple.  Just spill out everything to Him; He wants you to be open and transparent.  How awesome is that?  He actually wants to listen to you and me!  While we should bear each other's burdens, we do not.  We feel our own burdens are enough.  And the problem is we can't help others because we are still carrying our own.  God said to cast our burdens upon Him.  Then we can help others do the same.  And how do we cast those burdens upon Him?  By talking to Him, talking to Him a lot.  He's not going to direct you to another department.  He's not seething on the other end of the line ready to smash the phone against the wall.  He listens.  And He answers.  Thank you God for not being like me.  Thank you for being my hotline.