Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Power Outages

This past Sunday night, we had some of the worst winds that I can ever remember since living in Alabama.

Trees were falling, people were losing shingles off of their roofs. My neighbor was in the process of building a shed, it is now laying on the ground along with some destroyed fencing.

Many have been without power since that night.

We were blessed. Our power blinked off for about 20 seconds. Except for having to chase down our trash cans, we had no problems.

I was in the Thrift Store yesterday and while I was in line, I was listening to a couple of ladies talking about how long they had been without power. You could tell that these were the sweetest ladies, but their frustration of having to be in the dark was mounting.

I also had to take DS to the Dr. Same discussion between different people. Same frustration.

I began to notice as I made my errands around town, that anger and frustration was the theme.

I starting thinking.

What is making folks so antsy..so frustrated..some~~ down right angry??

One word.

Darkness.

As an unsaved person, the only thing about the dark I didn't like was the fact in all the scary movies I watched, the bad stuff always happened in the dark.

Avoid the dark..avoid the unknown.

I've learned since meeting Jesus, that darkness takes on a whole new meaning.

Once you've enjoyed the Light, the darkness becomes worse.

With the case of the power outages, we've become accustomed to our electricity. We like the fact that we can flip a switch and instant light. No more darkness.

With the help of even the smallest flashlight, the darkness outside isn't so scary.
Our stress level goes down, our fear goes away.

All because of the light.

Isn't that just like Jesus?

We connect with Him, and He flips a switch. Instant Light.

Even when we enter those dark, scary places, we have our Light.

No more fear of the unknown because the One Who knows everything is lighting our way.

Then maybe, for whatever reason, we start moving away from the Light. We get "busy".

We get so preoccupied with the here and now that we take our eyes off of the Light.

As we do this and go there, we may notice that the Light is getting dimmer, but since we can still see It, we aren't afraid. We do find ourselves wondering why this powerful Light is getting dimmer and our mind~ the enemy~ convinces us that the Light Itself is going out. It has nothing to do with us. When in all reality, we've moved so far away from the Source of the Light, we can't see it as clearly anymore, if at all.

Then all of a sudden, we realize we don't see any Light at all. It's dark and we're afraid.

How did this happen? How did we get here? What caused the Light to go out?

Well, the Light didn't go out, but the connection between us and the Light has been broken.

Just like those trees snapped those power lines all around our city.

The power source was still there and available to be used, but because that connection had been broken, it wasn't able to be used.

The connection had to be restored.

Same with Jesus.

When we find ourselves in the dark after enjoying the Light, the connection has been broken and some outside source has broken it.

We have to repair the connection in order to enjoy the Light again and the sooner the better.

How do we repair it?

Fall on our knees. Confess our sins and dig into the Word. Re-establish that connection with the Power Source. Pray. Fill our ears with praise and worship music.

Quicker than we can realize that connection will be restored and we'll be enjoying the Light once again.

"For God Who said, "Let there be Light in the darkness," has made this Light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ."
2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT

6 comments:

Sandy said...

Our power was out for more than 11 hours. Strange thing was, we didn't hear the wind storm! There is a whole lot of damage around here--lots of huge trees are down. With such a severe storm, you'd think we would have heard more noise from the wind. Our school system even closed down on Monday because so many schools were without power. Although we missed having electricity, we were happily distracted by our little granddaughter who was visiting from out-of-state.

Pam D said...

Whoa, girl, that is MY kind of post! That was such an amazing allegory; I love it! LOVE it.. and will be re-reading it and sending people over here, too. And we got the winds the next morning, during rush hour. Big tree across our drive, four trees in the yard next door, but God was amazing. One person died when a tree landed on his car while he was in it, but considering all of the damage, God's timing was perfect. Trees fell across streets, bus stops, houses, cars.. and people had just left the area in pretty much every case. Gives me chills.. perhaps He was trying to get us to see both His power and His protection. And to feel the frustration when that connection is broken....
Great, great post....

Rachel said...

How beautiful and so true!

Found you through Pam at Life By the Creek (isn't she the best?) :)

Sue G said...

Wow. What a wonderful post. Very illuminating, and that is with NO pun intended.

You did a remarkable job of shining the light on Jesus so that people could refocus if needed. And by shining light on Light, we receive a burst of divine energy that envelops us with peace, and joy, and comfort.

Pam D sent me over, and I reluctantly came because the LAST thing I need is another blog to follow. But, gee, am I glad I listened to her heart and not my cluttered brain!

You are a brilliant writer. Kudos, and, more importantly, blessings.

Pam said...

Awesome post.

Mamasita said...

Awesome post!!! I love it.

(Thank you Pam for sending me over.)

Your revelation and one my daughter made recently are both so simple yet so mind boggling at the same time. (If interested, you can read about her "epiphany" on my March 20th post.)

You are so right, though. Until you see the light and experience the light, you have no way of knowing how "dark" the dark is. I will send my girls over to read this too.

Thanks!

(Hey Pam and Sue!)