Y2K ~ Depending on the Lord

Y2K… my test of time and skill

On Friday, December 31, 1999 at 1:20 PST, I began the “shut down” of our office in preparation for New Years Day 2000 ~ otherwise know as Y2K.  I calmly went through the steps of checking all of our office systems. The last event on my checklist was shutting down the file server.

When I started process, I went too quickly and got this message, “Operating System Failure”! My stomach was in my throat. I stood back, said a silent prayer and went to my office for my emergency numbers. Then I prayed again, removed the disk from the file server and hit the return button. Thankfully, I brought the server up again. I then went through the steps more slowly, step by step. When I completed them, I received the right message. With a smile and a grateful “Thank-you, Lord”, I turned the monitor off, closed the door and turned off the hall light.

As I returned to the exit hall to turn on the building alarm, waves and waves of anxiety and panic rose up in me. Perhaps it was a delayed reaction, perhaps it was just pure, unadulterated fear… I don’t really know. All I know is that I felt so small and insignificant. I truly felt the weight of Y2K on my shoulders. I was close to tears. I have worked on this computer bug issue now for almost two years. All of the planning, all of the surveys, everything had my name on it. My reputation as an administrator and officer of our two companies was at stake. But even above that, it was the clients who depended on us.

But God! … I spoke the cry of my heart out to the Lord…. “Oh, Jesus, help me!  I’ve done everything I know to do to prepare this office for Y2K. If there is anything left undone, please show me. Otherwise, I will rest in You. I put my faith in You. Please Jesus, I can’t do this without You. Today, I walk by faith in You alone.”

This is my message…

In this world today, we are doing all that is “humanly” possible. And even in that, we are “human” and we make mistakes. In my case, I went too quickly with the final steps of closing down our system.

Our file server is our “brain” for our office. It holds all of the data of our software systems. Rather than storing the information on our personal computers, the file server allows us to access its memory “when needed” and therefore allows us to work more efficiently and with greater speed on our workstations. It is a powerful databank. Whenever we make a change on our personal workstations, that information is stored on the file server. Each night it backs up our “new” and “old” information onto a tape. The back-up tape is removed each morning and a new one replaces it. Why? In case we have a failure, we can restore the previous day’s information. It is a vital component of our operation.

When I saw the message “Operating System Failure”, a great fear flooded my body. It was a “human” reaction. All of the data, all of the memory, all of the functional things we have to do on a daily basis in my office are dependent upon that operating system. We, as humans, have become dependent upon this “machine”. Without His Spirit in me, without my faith in Him, without this “super-natural” walk with Him, I would have been crushed if this operating system failed.

Even in the final analysis of it all, my dependence upon this machine was dependent upon the Lord. He gave me talents as an administrator. His grace has overshadowed my life for this calling and this position. I know that without His peace, without His calming effect, without the Holy Spirit’s stirring to pray and to remain calm, I would have panicked and perhaps done things which would have made our file server inoperable.

I believe that in this new century, those of us who know and serve the Lord, will be called into a greater “faith” walk. It will be a day-to-day living as close to the Lord as possible. Computers may fail, countries may go to war, stock markets may crash, earthquakes may come, floods may come, disease and pestilence may be released, jobs may be lost, many horrors, trials, and tribulations may come.

BUT GOD!!!  HE will never forsake me. HE will never leave me without HIS Spirit. If I abide in HIM, HE will abide in me. I have been washed in the Blood of Jesus, my Savior. He has anointed me. He has given His Spirit to me. In faith for this new year and this new century, I declare as Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:13-15
“I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincereity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

May the testing of your faith in 2000 be rewarded.
May your trust in Him grow.
May your heart express His.
May your love for the unlovely increase.
May your calling be sure.
May all that you desire reflect His will for your life.
May you be stirred as never before to take hold of the Great Commission:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE.”