Morning Devotional
January 9, 2003
“General Protection Fault”
by Don Emmitte

The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand. Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly forsaken, nor seen their children begging for bread. The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing. Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever. For the LORD loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 37:23-28 NLV).

You are working on your computer, everything seems to be running just fine, and a little box pops up in the middle of your screen: "You have experienced a GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT at address 0000:EA34:002E. Would you like to CLOSE or IGNORE? (And by the way, the Ignore doesn't really work!)"

I really hate that message! You would think with all the new technology that has been poured into these machines and the thousands of dollars we invest to get faster and better they would be able to fix the General Protection Fault! You would think that all the work it took to design the Microprocessor, along with all the hours to program the software, would have created a system that could run smoothly. With all it has going for it, you would think that the system would be perfect.  

That little introduction with some humor and some truth within it brings me to the truth this morning. David, who wrote the psalm of this morning’s reading, was known for many things: his wisdom and leadership; his love for God; his poetry and songs; his adultery and murder. David was a man whose steps, for the most part, were established by the Lord. But as soon as David wrote the first line of today’s reading, he followed them with these words: "Though they stumble..." It seems like a contradiction. If a man's steps are established by the Lord, when would he ever fall? If a man's actions are in accordance with God's will, when would he ever stumble? If a computer program is so well written, why get a General Protection Fault? The answer is the reality of life here on earth: We're human. And so the verse does not say "If he falls," but "though he falls..."  

So many people have fallen and failed to realize that they have not committed an unrecoverable error. Read the verses again. The God who guides our steps, is the same God who holds our hand when we fall. He is the same God who steadies us when we stumble; the same God who sets us on our way again; and, the same God who will establish, and reestablish, our steps all the days of our lives. 

So, if you think you have failed and cannot recover, turn your thoughts toward the grace of God provided in Jesus. You will see that He is ready to hold you by your hand and lead you forever. He will never abandon you!