The Morse Code Analogy

Sometime in the early 1800s, a gentleman by the name Morse – a painter by trade – and a few friends of his invented the electric telegraph. That was the beginning of the morse code. Morse was smart, talented, artistic, and an intellectual man. On the flip side, Morse also loved Slavery! He wanted slavery instituted in the United States, he was married a couple times, he hated immigrants, and he was also strongly anti-catholic. You can say he’s not the best role model around.

By mid 1800s, the United States had built its first telegraph line, and Morse sent his first official morse code “What hath God wrought”. It means “See what God has done!” (Numbers 23:23).

A few hundred years passed, and a young man named Jacob, inspired by the invention of the telegraph system, set out to make a name for himself in the field of electric telegraphy.  Jacob spent his Friday nights practising and improving his morse code skills. He went on to get a phD in morse code and published more than a hundred papers. During his late 20s, Jacob thought it would be very romantic to propose to his girlfriend in morse code. Unfortunately, his girlfriend didn’t think so (guys: take notes!). She eventually realised Jacob is not who she wants to spend the rest of her life with and broke up with him. Jacob was heartbroken and eventually fell into deep depression. A few more months passed and Jacob had lost his job, his credentials and his self esteem. Desperately searching for food, Jacob would go door to door of every business and residence in the city. Jacob desired so much to change his life.

One such evening, Jacob stepped into a telegraphy communications office begging for money. Many people were waiting in the outer office since today was hiring day. A few dozen applicants had spent the entire morning in the interview room and now they were waiting outside to hear if they had gotten the job. Jacob walked in, and as he entered the door, instead of begging for money, he stopped and listened. He heard morse code in the background. He looked around, and all the other applicants were so busy and occupied with each other or were on their phones. Jacob walked into the inner office, and a few minutes later he came out and said “Everyone please go home. I’ve got the job.”

The applicants were confused and mockingly asked him “oh yeah? What did you do? Panhandle for the job?” Jacob smiled and said, “I simply heard the morse code in the background saying ‘If you can hear this, come in, the job is yours’, and so I got the job.”

You might say that Jacob got the job because he was listening! God wants us to listen to him so we can accomplish our duty. If we don’t pay attention to Him, then our job will simply be given to someone else who is willing to listen. Great missionaries or saints are not any more special than us, but rather, they are ordinary people who listened to His voice rather than the distractions of this world. Are you listening?