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“Dale, I can’t hear you. Dale, is your microphone double muted? Dale, check to see that your microphone isn’t double muted. Dale, I can’t hear you.”
And this was the start of a new employment experience for me. Yep. As a “side gig”, I’ve ventured into the work from home, remote, call-center world. This will involve lots of talking and keen listening skills.
I’ve worked in the customer service world my entire working career. That was all in retail though, with face to face interaction with the customer.
There were some “techy” set-ups that needed to be done to qualify me for this new job. And after confirming my computer meets their standards, the next step was to go through a sound quality check.
Seems simple enough. Right?
“We’ll need to ensure your headset is working correctly and can be used to assist you in making calls through your computer.” “You’ll need a USB enabled headset for that.”
Again. Simple enough. Right?
Whoop. Whoop. Whoop. Can you hear the alarms blaring?
Fast forward a few days later and oh the frustration! Here I was, sitting at my computer, talking into my headset microphone. But no one could hear me! I had attempted testing it prior to the scheduled conference, calling my sister through google hangouts, but she couldn’t hear me talking! I could hear her just fine. “Hel-llo. Hel-llo. Dale, I can’t hear you. Hel-llo.”
Ah, geesh. We went through several calls like that. Me speaking in to the microphone and her saying, “Hel-llo. Hel-low-oh.” And me, talking on to her as though she could hear me! Oh, if there had been a video of that!
And then I realized. My call-in time to live test my microphone was already in session! So, I dialed in, and the same thing. “Dale, I can’t hear you”, the instructor said. “Dale, I can’t hear you. Dale, is your microphone double muted? Dale, check to see that your microphone isn’t double muted. Dale, I can’t hear you.”
And me, texting back that I had tried everything and it just wasn’t working. “Maybe I need to buy a new headset”, I told her.
And then the microphone started reverberating!
Echo. Echo. Echo. “Dale. I’m getting some feedback. Dale, it’s very loud. Dale, I don’t think your microphone is working.”
After 15 frustrating minutes of this, she was gracious to allow me another later call.
So, we hung up. And, to not bore you with any more of the details it ends with me looking down and discovering…
The cord was barely plugged in to the volume control!
Silly me. Such a simple fix and it took me so much grievance and frustration to finally discover, I wasn’t plugged in all the way!
And so now let me ask you.
Do you ever wonder if God doesn’t hear you?
Have you been calling out to Him and He seems silent? Are you dialing in but you think your words aren’t being heard? Are you carrying on a normal conversation with Him, assuming He is listening, and yet you aren’t hearing anything back?
Maybe at some point you too, are getting a bit of a reverberation. Something is telling you, He’s there. You’re hearing something. You wonder if it could just be the echo of your own voice. You then come to realize you’re just not getting a real connection.
Maybe you’re not plugged in!
You see, to be really connected with God, we need to be in constant communication with Him. He’s told us this many times in scripture. He instructed Joshua this:
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
~ Joshua 1:8
In the very first Psalm, we’re told to behave ourselves, to not hang out with bad influences or cause others to misstep. The person who does that; the person that delights in such behavior, in following God’s direction, is blessed. I especially love the New Living Translation of verse one, because it starts out with “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advise of the wicked”. Oh, the joys. What a blessing! Doesn’t that make you want to be that person? To experience that joy?
Even so, I can’t say I’ve followed that guidance on a daily basis. And for that, I’m ashamed. But I’m committed to be transparent here and to share with you my transforming heart. And my fervent wish is that you and I grow in our knowledge of our Lord and Savior through this encouragement and more within this blog. That we learn to experience that amazing joy by staying in the Word.
Won’t you walk along with me, learning and growing and getting closer to Him and His infinite promises? Let us strive to be more like Jesus as we take this journey together.
And Soak This In
My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.
~ Proverbs 4:20-22
Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.
May you be inspired in this message to become closer to Him through your meditations on the Word. He’s waiting. As He always has been. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God Bless!
*May these verses be a start for further guidance and encouragement in staying in the Word:
