For the first time in several years, the power was out in our house last night. It had obviously been a while since the power had gone out because we were clearly unprepared. When we looked for lights in our camping gear, we found out that the large lantern didn’t have batteries. My wife found a lamp we use in our tent and lit a few candles. The candles, mind you, mainly were for scent and not for light. To make matters worse, our new house that we have been in since September has remarkably poor cell service. So there we were, sitting in the dark with no internet (even on our phones), and there wasn’t a thing we could do about it.
As I got ready for bed, I couldn’t help but think how dependent we had become on electricity. If my house loses power, my basic life is so interrupted that it looks nothing like my day-to-day routine. Without power, I had to adjust the way I entertained myself, the way I communicated, and the way I prepared for the coming day. It reminded me of how dependent I am on God’s power.
In a western 21st century culture, we like to talk about how we should depend on God. While I understand the sentiment we are trying to express with such a statement, it, unfortunately, conveys the idea that we have a choice in the matter. American culture is hallmarked by fierce individualism. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is a favorite expression used to describe the attitude we should all have to make America great. We seem to take the same attitude toward God. We only need Him for the things that we cannot accomplish ourselves.
In the ancient culture and the Bible, however, God is viewed as the sustainer of all things. Think of passages like Colossians 1:17 where it says, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Or Hebrews 1:3, “…he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Or Job 12:10, “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”
When the power went out in my house, I had to “improvise, adapt, overcome.” What would happen if God’s power went out in my life? It is possible that I have fallen into the bootstrapped American mindset where I feel like I would be okay until I hit something too big for me to handle. I would be able to adapt and overcome for a little while.
We need to be careful that we don’t fall into that mindset. God has created me to be able to do amazing things, but I could not exist for one second without his power. Since he is not just the creator but also the sustainer, I need to recognize my total dependence on Him. I want to be sure to echo the psalmist and say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” and thank him for keeping the power on all the time.
Brian Ketchem