August 30 Is the Power Turned Off?

I Corinthians 4:6-7 For God who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves... not crushed....not despairing,...not forsaken,... not destroyed...v. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

We just experienced a hurricane, and the power was off at our house for only eight or nine hours. Unfortunately, many who live in the Northeast will not have power for days or perhaps weeks, and it does not matter how often they plug things in, there is just no power there.

As I read this passage, I thought about how different the spiritual power situation is. For the believer, the power is always there. Honestly, I know believers who function as though the light has gone out, as though the power has been turned off. The sad reality is that the power is on and functioning; they just don't believe it or want to use it...so they walk around "unplugged," with a hopeless, discouraged, hang-dog appearance.

I love how Paul writes here of his own personal experience. He is truly speaking of that which he knows - having been beaten, shipwrecked, betrayed, pursued, even jailed, but he never lost hope or power or light. He lived through these challenges entirely plugged in to the reality of God living within and empowering him to endure, not in his own strength, but in the power sourced directly from God.

As I reflect on this, I confess, there have been moments when I have been strongly tempted to the self-pity track. For some bizarre reason, perhaps believing Satan's lies, it is sometimes more appealing to be the victim than the vanquisher. As we give in to the impulse to whine or beg for pity and encouragement, we are telling others we have "shorted out;" our power source circuit is not complete; God has failed us.

But God!! Oh, how I love those words. He never goes away. Our power connection never short-circuits or runs out of steam. That's why we are encouraged to "walk in the Spirit." Live out our relationship with the Living God. It is real and permanent. We do have all the power we need to pass through victoriously every challenge we face, not to go around them or have those challenges skip over us. We will face real and painful tests and temptations, but as long as we remained "plugged in" to the power of God, owning the reality of His presence and filtering power (He ensures we are never tested above our capacity (I Cor. 10:13) we can get to the other side, and the journey will be glorifying to God.