Thought for Today
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Psalm 21:13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength! We will sing and praise your power.
John 1:12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
Mark 5:30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"
This morning we endured a short loss of electrical power. It was long enough for our gas-powered generator to come on, so our loss was only for mere seconds. Thankfully, the coffee was already done and in a carafe. Having endured enough power outages before we moved north, we installed that generator early in our sojourn. We have our own buried propane storage tank and our supplier constantly monitors our tank level.
When we purchased our generator, I made sure the output was sufficient to power most of our home. I was especially attentive to the HVAC equipment, having endured multiple summertime outages from storms and hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Since I was in the shower during the first outage we experienced in New England pre-generator, I was careful to make sure that was also protected. We do have load shedding switches for the clothes dryer and the oven, but almost everything else will now work during an outage.
Some time during the day today, look around your home and notice how many of the things upon which you rely require some form of power. Whether it is an electrical device or a gas-fired device, most things require some form of power. Tables and chairs, plates and silverware are exempt. Sofas and beds are exempt. But, in many modern ‘smart’ homes, even the door locks require power. Our home is (thankfully) only semi-smart, so I can manually lock the doors and turn on the lights. The window shade over our front door and the garage door, however, require power.
Not all of our daily power usage comes from the electric supplier. We have an entire drawer in a cabinet in one room devoted entirely to the various batteries required by flashlights, our computer mouses, all of the remotes for the televisions, remotes for the alarm system, etc. We also have multiple charging cables for our smartphones and other devices.
As unbelievable as it may seem to any younger folks who read this, it has not always been so. “Electricity became common in rural America primarily during the 1940s and early 1950s, following the establishment of the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935-1936.” (Copilot Search) That may seem a long time ago, literally in the last century; but, to those of us ‘of an age,’ that is within our lifetimes. Some of what we now think of as modern alternatives, such as wind power or solar power, have been available for all of human history. Our ancestors used wind to power sailing vessels and used windmills to power many devices.
The Bible even talks about power, although I could not find any reference to electrical power. Often the word power is a translation of the Greek δύναμις, “(1) as able to produce a strong effect power, might, strength.” (Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon)
Wind, electricity, gas, tidal surges, waterwheels and other sources of power can and all do ‘produce a strong effect, power, might and/or strength.’ The Bible reveals to us, however, that there are other sources of power. The best example is in those first two verses from Genesis above. God created Creation through God’s spoken “Let there be . . .”
I have always been fascinated by the story of the woman who touched Jesus’ clothes. I cannot imagine how powerful a presence Jesus must have had for the mere touching of his clothing to produce that healing. I am comforted by the fact that Jesus was able to sense his power going out in healing.
For me and for many Christians, the most important mention of power in the Bible and in our lives are those words in John, “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” Paul phrases it a bit differently in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Faith in Jesus being powerful enough to help us become children of God and to save us through eternity. Electricity cannot accomplish that. Wind, solar, battery, gas, none of those can provide the power which faith offers to all who believe.
Stay safe, let faith power your life, trust God,
Pastor Ray