Looking At Our Default Settings

“One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?”Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.” – Luke 17:20-21.

Computers can be fickle. Over time, the accumulation of files misconfigured settings, and other factors slow down performance and impact programs. Other times the computer is infected by a virus that affects our operating system and causes our computer to crash. The remedy to returning your computer to optimal performance is to reset it to factory defaults. 

When your computer has a failure, you might lose your personal settings and even valued material, but at least you still retain the basic framework that allows you to rebuild. That is what the default does. We, as humans, can be infected with a virus in our mind that is skewing our operating (belief)  system and causing us to operate outside of God’s intended design. In those cases, we need to reset to our default. You and I also have a default mode for processing life. We have certain ways of responding to people, circumstances, difficulties, surprises, disappointments, etc. When faced with bad news or even just the unknown, we tend to worry, to fear the worst and doubt God’s goodness.

If we do nothing to change, we’ll most likely continue to respond the way we always have. He is always there waiting for us to return to Him in our thoughts and actions. Even when we don’t see Him doing anything, He is still good and He still cares. We can never escape His grasp. We will never be forgotten. We will never have to go it alone. Our default settings should be God’s settings.  

The goal is not to let our thoughts define us.  If feelings are at the front, they will drive you wherever they feel like going. You’ve heard it said, “If it feels this good, it must be the right thing to do.” That is a trap. Your emotions will take you into all kinds of confusion. “Right thinking” guides us in responding with “right actions.” Right feelings may not come immediately, but they will come eventually.

Stay near to God. Focus on Him in your mind. Invite Him to change your default settings one by one, day by day. Every day of your life deserves the compassionate, love and grace of Christ.   

Discussion Questions:

1. What is your default mode for handling life? Does it need to be reset?
2. How can we ensure our default matches God’s settings today and in the future?