“Power Outages”
Most power outages occur during storms. That’s true in both our physical and spiritual lives; it happens frequently when the clouds hover low upon the horizon and the sky turns ominously green, a sign of dangerous weather.
Blackouts affect us spiritually, too, when we are overwhelmed with the terrible clouds of doubt, and overcome with the weight of trouble in our families; a sickness which is unexpected; or a financial crisis that is unmanageable. One storm at a time we might be able to handle, but when they come one after the other in rapid succession, they block out the rays of faith we have come to rely upon for daily hope. It leaves us breathless and faithless, dazed by the pressure of our circumstances.
Imagine the woman who had been terribly sick for 12 years (Mark 5), who had spent all her savings on doctors, suffering the indignities of the medical practice of that day. She had done it all, leeching, cutting, cauterizing, ingesting awful toxic concoctions to seek healing…nothing worked. But she was determined! If she must die hard she would not go without a fight. That’s about the time she overheard a legend about a “healer” by the name of Jesus, and what a story it turned out to be. Hope sprang eternal in that moment as she planned and schemed to find a way to meet this person. “Why not?” she must have thought to herself.
The more she heard about this Jesus the more her curiosity turned to faith. What did she hear that made such a difference? Was it from what we’ve read in Luke’s gospel (Luke 6:19) when the whole multitude sought to touch Jesus and ALL of them were healed at once? Imagine, just a touch and awesome power soared through their bodies…the blind saw, the lame walked, the sick were restored!
As the day approached when Jesus would walk through her town she was ready to battle Satan himself to get through the unruly mob, and FIGHT SHE DID! In her weakened condition she reached for Him but could not quite touch His flesh…her sick little hand only grazed the garment Jesus was wearing. But that was enough! Immediately the power left Him and entered into her tired but FAITHFUL body and she was healed. Her power outage was over…healing had come to restore her once frail body; the storms of sickness gave way to the Son of God and by faith she found glorious, miraculous redemption.
Have you lost power in your life? Are you suffering from a temporary disconnect from the one true source of energy? Then it’s time to do something about it, to reconnect, plug back in to Jesus. How?
1. Fight your way back to Him. You’ve become discouraged and begun leaning on the advice from people around you. How has that worked out? Go back to the source that has never failed you in the past and will never let you down.
2. Quit making excuses. No one can do this for you and no one can be blamed for your circumstances. You’ve GOT to do this yourself by mustering all the energy you’ve got, then trust God to carry you the rest of the way.
3. Make an honest effort. You may not make it all the way back in one attempt. Just reach out to Him as best you can and He will do the rest. You may only touch the hem of His garment but that will be enough!
4. Be willing for your life to change radically. God will see right through you if you do this half-heartedly. The trade-off for healing is obedience. Are you willing to do ANYTHING God asks of you this time? Jesus is so ready to overcome your power outage but He expects more from you than you’ve ever given to Him before. How much is it worth to make your pain go away?
GospeLines Prayer: O my Lord and my God, when I am distraught and depressed because the storms in my life have beaten me up and knocked me down, spare me from personal pity parties which will only prolong the circumstances I am in. Lift my head with your nail-scarred hand so that I may gaze into Your face to regain eternal hope; restore my empty spirit with the power of Your Holy Spirit. Replace my fear with courage, and accept my promise that I will follow you all the days of my life whether it takes me to the neighbor next door or to the uncommon shores of another country. Amen and amen.
Tommy Harrison
tommy@gospelines.com
Amen and Amen!
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