without power

One reflection on Hurricane Irene...most of us "coastal dwellers" in the mid-Atlantic lost electrical power for a day or more.  At our house, we lost power for four days while others were powerless even longer.  It's not unusual to lose electricity for brief periods, like an hour or an afternoon.  But losing power for multiple days is numbing.  There isn't much we do or experience that isn't supported, provided or accompanied by electricity.  Everything from keeping our food cold to keeping our air cold to keeping us in touch with our world through the computer and tv...  And the nights become amazingly dark and still in our homes and down our streets without electricity.  One night my wife, Shirley, and I stood in awe of the starry night sky, where we could see the Milky Way and more stars than we knew existed...normally the lights in our area wash out most of the view.  It makes me think about living without the power of the Lord in my life, compared with living with the power running.  Before I came to put personal trust in the living God I ran on my own limited power (something like the power from a couple of D cell batteries in my flashlight).  I was used to a low level of light and a limited experience of living.  When I realized the great love of God was personally directed toward me in the form of His Son...who gave up the power of His own life for me...the lights really came on in my life and it has made all the difference.  It was like the feeling I had when I approached our neighborhood last week and saw the lights on in all the homes.  The power was back and we could resume our lives!

Romans 6:⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.