I feel a story coming on…
Last summer when we travelled in the north of Spain we had enormous issues with the remote control to lock and unlock our van. The key worked in the door manually but only with great difficulty, twisting it this way and that. But we got there and back and were able to lock and unlock our personal transport when we needed to – even if it took a little longer than one would wish.
Not everything is a sign, but there are times when you have to slow down and ask. Our journey was preceded by hearing ‘You need to take the manual key with you’. I ignored that – no comments about my stupidity please!! So when the remote proved an issue we did slow down and sought to see if there was a significance in it all. The manual key was the one that we should have brought along, so the one you use in situ was going to be important.
It was of course in the season when we knew we had to be in Madrid. We had been turned down by the power of Mammon and then by the power of the legal system. I had had a (tentative) sense for some while that we would offer on 3 properties and would get the third. On our way back home we went to the centre of Madrid where there is a statue of Madrid’s symbol (a bear) and we took our key, placed it on the bear to declare we are coming. We understood the Lord was saying we could not simply lock and unlock from a distance and that now we needed to be in the city to do things on site.
Fast forward… We have TV in Oliva through a company called Orange. A large number of the buttons on the remote control for the TV stopped working. So I phoned them a few weeks back and they agreed to send a new one. A week or more went past. I phoned them again, and again, and a third time this Tuesday. Other than the annoyance of the waste of time I quite enjoy such calls, but the issue was ‘get it here quick cos we are going to Madrid and on to Malaga and won’t be back for 2 weeks’.
Eventually I tracked it down – they were trying to deliver it to Cadiz. We left there 5 years ago and never had Orange provide a service to us there in Cadiz. They had even been trying to call me on a cell phone we had in Cadiz (not an Orange phone), not on the cell phone that Orange gave us and have on their records as our phone number!! Go figure!
We will get it from Cadiz to you, they said. I said, well we won’t be here!
Next day we leave, off to Madrid. As we drive out of Oliva, I see a delivery van – I have no idea how many come in per day but there must be hundreds. ‘Gayle turn around and catch him, I am going to ask him if he has our package!.’ A three point turn later and no sight of him. A few streets later I see the delivery van. Pull over. ‘Tienes un paquete para Scott a la playa?’. What street…? Yes I do! So 10 minutes later we have the remote for our TV in Oliva as we continue to drive to Madrid.
The story continues… If you are lost remind yourself it is about remotes and the story has an ending and a purpose – at least in my little head!
We are renting an underground parking space in Madrid as there is now a red zone inside of which you cannot drive your car. When we were given the remote for the garage back in January he said – it does not always work, you might have to use it manually. That was certainly true – probably 90% of the time it would not work when we were here previously. This time we turn up, immediately it works, and has done every time since!
Remotes. Here we are in Madrid. We could no longer affect Madrid remotely and have to be on site. But we have remotes that work in Madrid now and remotes from elsewhere for other places. Sweet!!
Of course we have authority over all the works of the enemy, but that is not a universal truth in the sense of I pray today and all demons world wide are paralysed. It applies to our personal lives and what we have responsibility for. In taking responsibility we have to find the leverage points that means our authority is effective.
A tale of remotes!!! Change things from one place for others. So off now to the Supreme Court. Put the manual and personal presence key in as representing Jesus and maybe a few remotes will also be pressed for elsewhere.