It was an utter catastrophe.
I don’t really know what happened. A warning popped up on my phone, I responded, and the next thing I knew, ALL the data on my phone was erased. Not just from my phone—but my cloud storage, too. Don’t ask me how. I didn’t even know that it happened until hours later. I grabbed my phone to show something to a friend … and there was nothing there. Nothing in Notes, Pages, Passwords, Contacts, Calendar … all of it had been deleted. I collapsed into a nearby chair. It was like I was looking at a brand new cellphone. My iCloud storage said “0 items.”
I tried not to panic. So, I didn’t. Instead, abject HORROR took over. My brain went numb as I attempted to frantically problem-solve. “Okay. Don’t freak out. What do I do, what do I do … THINK.”
I had no ideas, but a good thing Jesus did. He steered me to a nearby angel unaware who could help me with CPR—cell phone repair—i.e. he gave me the number for Apple Support. I called them asap, explained what happened, and the nice lady said, “Hon, if you erased your cloud storage, then it’s gone.” Not helpful. I tried not to come totally unglued as I counted to ten. Then I calmly replied, “But I PAY for cloud storage! If the cloud doesn’t STORE it, then what am I paying for?” (In my heart, I added a few !!!! to that question, but I tried to maintain my professional phone voice.)
LONG story short, a few days later, we (Apple and I) eventually got it all worked out. Sure enough, all my stuff WAS still there in the cloud. I watched the throbber on my phone screen—the little spinning icon—begin to turn as my data files were restored, and I had an absolutely delicious sense of relief. All my work, my research, Bible studies, recipes, passwords, contact info—I got it all back. Yes, I had inadvertently deleted it—MY bad—but nothing was lost completely. There WAS a backup after all. In the CLOUD.
Now, I know the CLOUD is not really a cloud in the sky—it’s a hunk of machinery located somewhere on earth … in a vault in, say, Nebraska. It’s somebody’s server—and I’m not even sure I agree with all the ethics of that. But, for now, all I know is that what was lost to me, wasn’t really lost. It was stored, and it was re-stored to ME. And I’m grateful.
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A catastrophe is defined as a “tragic event that causes great damage, suffering, or loss.” When I heard my husband’s diagnosis, it was exactly that. I wasn’t prepared for what the neuropsychologist had to say: “Derrald has frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) dementia. This disease affects—and ultimately disables—the areas of the brain which control executive, behavioral, motor, language, and cognitive functions.” (Gulp.)
It has taken some time, but as the doctor prognosed, it’s apparent that most of my husband’s memory has been erased. Years of sermons, Bible studies, stories, contacts, passwords, family memories—all gone. He remembers almost none of it. The wisdom and vocabulary accumulated from fifty years of preaching and pastoring; the books he’s read; the courses he’s taken; the cities we’ve lived in and the places we’ve visited together; the faces of family he loves and the friends he’s known; the savvy, the skills, the stores of knowledge, humor, ability, and experience—nearly all of it—wiped clean from his brain’s hard drive. It breaks my heart.
I know better than to ask “Why?” But I did ask God, “Where does it go? When the brain shrinks, where does all that wisdom and knowledge GO?”
I felt the LORD gently jump past all the reasons for it and say to me, “Don’t fret. I’ve saved it all … to the CLOUD. Every good thing Derrald ever did in obedience to Me … it’s all saved in the heavenlies. Every prayer, every tear, every cherished memory, every anointed thought, every inspired word—every cup of cold water given in My Name when nobody else saw—it’s ALL saved. Don’t you know? All the things of eternal value are kept forever—nothing is lost. And it’ll all be restored one day.”
Such comfort—and I believe it’s true for all of us. Jesus said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” (Matthew 6:20)
As we live our lives as unto the LORD Jesus Christ, all of our devotion, our determination, our acts of faith, hope, and love are our treasures—investments protected from any kind of corruption, theft, or depreciation. NO disease, disability, or even death can devaluate what was wholly offered to God with a healthy will and a sound mind. It is forever secure—with protection bought and paid for long ago by the blood of Jesus.
Saved to “the CLOUD.” Not to a physical server, but to a secure storehouse in HEAVEN, known only to God, where nothing of eternal value is ever really lost. Nothing! Even if it looks like evil has destroyed all our efforts for the Kingdom on earth, God knows. When we think all is forgotten, His memory is eternal. His accounts are faithful, and He says, “I will restore to you the years that the locust, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar have eaten …” (Joel 2:25)
“Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
— C.T. Studd
So, if you’re worried and you can’t sleep—thinking that all is lost, just remember this: of everything good that we do in the name of Jesus Christ, according to His purpose, in obedience to His Word, in allegiance to His Kingship, and in alignment with His Will—none of it is for nothing. It ALL has eternal significance—it is saved, and will be restored one day. We may not know how YET, but we can be assured that we have a heavenly inheritance—saved to the CLOUD.
“Blessed be God … [who] has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:3-4 ESV) Thank You, Jesus!
