This weekend I had a glitch. I picked up my cell phone to follow up on a meeting arrangement, and the phone was not charged. This was a problem because I don’t have a landline anymore. I had put it on the charger, so what was wrong? I have a pretty nice smart phone with lots of features and apps; however, it was useless even for the most basic of functions—making a call! Do you know the feeling? The problem was that I had failed to plug the charger itself into the wall outlet. Guess what, no connection to the source of electricity to power the charger to make my phone work.

I attended a leadership function years ago during which Nelson Andrews gave a speech.  What I remember from his speech is that power (money, influence, authority) is not power unless it is used.  He was referring to civic leadership; however, the analogy is appropriate for this case.  The wall outlet was full of power, but nothing was plugged into it. Therefore, it was not being used to serve its purpose.

By the way, plugging the charger into the wall outlet does no good if the electricity is down.  This actually presented another problem for me during a recent thunderstorm when our power went off.  Let’s not forget that for our spiritual health, we have an ultimate power source that never shuts down, no matter how severe the storm.  Hallelujah!

I’ve always loved this passage from Psalm 20:5-7(NIV) because it points us to our ultimate source of power:

⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests. ⁶ Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

As I write this, I am remembering September 11 seventeen years ago. It was horrifying, not knowing what might happen next. We all felt that we were under attack (and we were and we are), and we might have felt powerless. However, in every situation that we face—whether personal crises, corporate challenges, or governmental failures—our LORD has already won the victory. We don’t have to be powerless. As the psalmist says in the passage above, “The LORD gives victory to his anointed.”  I pray that you will plug in to your ultimate power source by praying, reading your Bible, and participating in a local church for corporate worship, fellowship, and accountability. We have power through Christ our LORD.  Plug in.

Blessings,

Judy