(em)Power

It’s funny how, in the quiet, the mundane can become the meaningful. 

It’d been a long day.  Not bad, just long.  I had worked in the office through early afternoon; I then left, an hour and a half later than I’d planned, to travel to an out-of-town meeting.  Sitting in traffic about a block away from the hotel, I heard my phone alert.  It was a text message from a colleague, asking if I was ready for dinner.  Really tired, yet really hungry, I responded that I’d be ready to go just as soon as I got to the hotel and settled into my room.      

With snack bags in hand and luggage hanging from each arm, I stood at the hotel’s front desk, checking in.  Then, there, my phone rang.  Answering abruptly, I let my friend know that I was busy and would return her call later.  The day was getting longer.  Not worse, just longer.  When I finally reached my hotel room after trundling through dinner, I didn’t yield to the temptation to lie across the big, king bed; instead, I returned my friend’s phone call from earlier.  Because I had the first day of meetings in the morning, I had hoped that the conversation would be quick.  But it was not.  Over two hours later, around 11:00 or so, the phone call was over, the TV was off, and the noise of the day, both external and internal, was finally waning. 

It was in that moment of welcomed silence that I saw the power outlets.  For those of us who’ve been raised in a first world country, there’s nothing novel or special about them.  But here, in my hotel room, the outlets seemed to jump out before my tired eyes.  In that moment, scanning the four walls, I counted right at 20 visible USB and electrical outlets.  This didn’t include the ones in the restroom or the coffee nook.  As you’d expect, there were outlets in the walls, near their bases.  But to my surprise, there were also outlets in the headboard and in the mantle.

“How convenient,” I thought. “No matter where I am in this space, my device can be charging close by.”

It was nothing particularly revelatory, but it was a dose of reality to see how accommodations are adapting to meet the needs of our ever-changing lifestyles.  We’re living in a day of devices and with that, in this modern age, we are clearly a people obsessed with connectivity.  Whether in conference rooms or airport terminals, I thought, we sit where we’re closest to an outlet.  Now more acutely aware of society’s need for constant empowerment, I noted my own electrical dependence.  I, myself, at that moment, had two cell phones and a laptop charging.  As a matter of fact, those two cell phone chargers are always in my purse and, to boot, I keep a spare in my car.  And yes, I even have an extra power bank.  It’s charged and able to provide power to any of my devices just in case I don’t have access to an outlet.

We’re an empowered people, now moreso than ever. 

Or are we?

“…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Acts 1:8-11 NIV

Seeing all of those outlets, I realized that there was something that the church could learn from the culture:  stay close to a power source.  

Lately, every day has looked ordinary, like a simple replay of the one before it.  The days have seemed to pass unchanged and uncharged.  Drained and depleted, I feel like I have nothing left to draw from or to run on.  I’ve felt so tired and disconnected.  Maybe you can relate. 

Admittedly, I’m not connected to God the way that I should be or the way that I used to be or, ultimately, the way that I want to be.  And it’s not because of lack of access or inadequate supply.  I mean, God is omnipotent and ever-present.  Not only is He all powerful; He’s always powerful…and He’s always everywhere.  “So, what is it?” I wondered.  “Why?”  Although I think that there are several reasons, my first thought was that it’s because it’s not convenient. 

I’ve gotten lazy.

I wonder if seeing the outlets was God’s subtle reminder that He is the source of my life, that I have no real energy apart from Him and that my rest, encouragement and desire are going to come from Him alone and not from any external source or alternate power bank.  Perhaps seeing the outlets was His way of reminding me that I must stay plugged in. 

Plugging in is going to require intentionality and fervor.  God doesn’t beg and He doesn’t compete.  Instead of using devices to fill the spaces where loneliness and boredom and escapism threaten to dwell, I’m going to start to more fully embrace the silence and spend some quality time with God in prayer and study.  I’m going to seek the supernatural in the silence.    

I hope that you’ll meet me there. 

Think about it — the God of Heaven, the Creator of all things and all time, lives in us through His Spirit. We have instantaneous connectivity to Heaven.  And before ascending there, Jesus’s last words to His disciples were about power and its demonstration.  Those same disciples, empowered, revolutionized the world.  As present-day disciples, awaiting the return of Christ, what could we accomplish for the Kingdom’s sake if we simply plugged in?    

PRINCIPLE:  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.   Romans 1:16 NKJV