A few weeks ago, my husband and I were working fervently on business items we needed to address.  In the midst of replying to emails, faxing documents, and waiting for the time to commence conference calls, we experienced a power surge which caused us to lose our electricity.  Of course my immediate thought was, “Did I forget to pay the electric bill this month?” J  Although I consider myself a very organized person, I found myself reviewing our online bill pay system to make sure I did indeed pay the bill, especially considering how busy we have been lately.  After confirming the bill had been paid, my next thought was to contact our electric company to report the outage and request for service to restore our electricity.  The automated line recorded my request, and then gave me an approximate time as to when the power should be restored.  Within a matter of minutes our electricity was back on, and we resumed work as usual.  For the short time we were without our electric power, we were extremely limited as to how productive we could be.  We were able to do some work, as our laptops were operating on battery power; however, we all know batteries have a limited life span.

Lately, I have been experiencing a disconnect with my Spiritual Power Source.  Oh, don’t get me wrong; I still pray daily, record prayer requests in my prayer journal, spend time in God’s Word, attend church regularly, encourage others in Christ, etc.; but I have been feeling as though some of my power has faded or that I am not connected directly to the proper power source.  I shared these feelings with my friend Shannon, and through our brief discussion, a revelation occurred.  Perhaps my outlet to God’s power source is overloaded with the “power cords” of life, and thus blocking my source to God’s true power.  Some of us may have experienced overloaded power outlets in our homes, and as we know, these can lead to short circuiting and ultimately power loss.  From my conversation, I began wondering how I can reconnect to my Spiritual Power Source.  Yes, the obvious answer became apparent: relieve some of my responsibilities and devote more time to my personal relationship with the Lord.  But one answer I did not expect to be revealed is praising God more.  As simple as it may sound, it was very profound to me.  How much time do I spend praising God?  Not just because He blesses me or because I ask Him to answer specific prayers; but, do I praise Him because of His true love for me and because I am in awe of what He sacrificed for me?  Do I fully comprehend the magnitude of His love and grace for me?

The Scripture written above is an awesome reminder for the answers to my questions.  It is so easy for us as busy women/men to become consumed with life’s responsibilities on every level:  time devoted to God’s Kingdom building through our witnessing and encouraging of others; time devoted to our families; or time devoted to our work and homes.  God has designed us to be multi-faceted, and we are able to take on many challenges.  Sometimes, however, access to God’s power becomes limited or interrupted because of this.  Using “batteries” to restore power in our lives will provide temporary relief; having adaptors when the batteries have failed only work if the outlet they are plugged into is receiving power from the source; power strips allow us to use many outlets at once, and some are equipped with surge protection, but again, if there is no direct connection to the power source, they have limited functions as well.  So how can we be assured that we are connected to the One True Power?  God’s Word reveals this to us in Romans 8:9-17.

Considering the issues we are facing today, I see we have a choice to make:  We can sit around feeling pitiful about our circumstances and feeling helpless or we can realize who we are in Christ and access the power of the Holy Spirit.  If you have not paid your Spiritual Electric Bill lately because you have not spent intimate time with our Lord, I encourage you to begin today devoting time to building your personal relationship with the Lord.  If you have overloaded your outlets with life’s responsibilities, kneel at the alter (find an area in your home devoted specifically to praying alone with the Lord) and ask God to show you which “outlets in your life you can unplug” and turn over to Him.  And if you are like me, running on limited battery power, let’s turn to the Lord and begin praising Him for the many blessings He bestows upon us and for His faithfulness and love He exhibits daily toward us.  Only when we are connected to the power of the Holy Spirit can we experience true power from God and praise Him all the more, no matter the circumstances that may try to short circuit our connections.

The link below is to a song which reminds me to praise God, even during my times of Spiritual power outages.  I hope it encourages and reminds us of the true power we possess through Jesus Christ.

Be Blessed in Christ…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv9-WlymKg0 video link to “Total Praise” by Richard Smallwood