Has your power gone out recently during a storm? We’ve had some pretty strong windstorms over these past few years, and several times we’ve lost power. I am thankful for the utility company folks who brave the elements to get us all back up and running as quickly as they do.
During those powerless hours, I’ve chuckled to myself when I flip light switches on upon entering a room in the house. I know the power is out, but by habit, I’ll continue trying to turn the lights on. That is fruitless, of course, since the electric service to the house was interrupted somewhere when a tree fell on a power line.
The most famous power outage in the Bible is found in the story of Samson. Here you have an ordinary guy whom God blesses with extraordinary strength. He struggled (and failed) with various temptations like lust and pride, but what really got him into trouble was breaking his vow before God by getting his hair cut.
Not realizing he was without God’s power, Samson rushed out to defeat a group of enemies on his own. Sadly, his self-dependence instead of God-dependence cost him his life (Judges 16).
It’s easy to do: we can get so busy trying to do things for God, we might not even notice we’re doing everything without His blessing. But when we trust God to provide the power, He’ll get the glory, and we’ll experience Him doing great things through us.
So, let us serve “by the strength that God supplies–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11). God, give us Your power!
