Accessing Power

I forget that electricity is an expensive commodity in much of the world. Every outlet here in Malaysia has an individual switch to turn it off when it's not being used. So at night when we leave the church building, we turn off all power to everything. (That's when I'm glad to hold the flashlight while Josh locks up with three different keys, because turning off the power also turns off the light at the head of the three flights of stairs.)

The first time I used my adapter with my hair dryer from home, I was so disappointed because I thought it wasn't working. Then I remembered to turn on the outlet and it worked just fine.

I'm sure there are many spiritual applications to this situation, but the one that occurs to me first is that we never have to turn off a switch to conserve the power we receive from God. His power is in unlimited supply. On the other hand, we do not benefit from his power without choosing to use it. In that sense, we always want to keep our power source going so the Holy Spirit can help us out at any time.

Our "switches" to maintain our power source are Bible reading and prayer. All our project is centered on teaching the Bible, and that makes me sometimes lazy about my own personal Bible study. Now prayer is a different matter--I'm praying constantly for the wisdom I need in working with our readers, fellow Christians, and our team. I have the confidence that I can always access that power that "comes down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." Thank God for our easy access to both the Bible and prayer!