Craig's Message for February 2012

   Electric power is a precious commodity in Haiti. Electric power comes in sporadic (at least it seemed to me) spurts. It goes out at sometimes random times. And so Haitians, who have the resources to do so, have to compensate for this reality. They do it in a couple of ways.

Obviously when the power is flowing, everything in the house works. But also, while everything else is running, so is an inverter that charges a series of batteries. These batteries are (or at least look like) car batteries, connected to each other with heavy wires. When the electricity goes out, the inverter reverses and uses the batteries to run, well, some of the things in the house. Lights work, and the TV, but not heavy drains like A/C or a hair dryer.

Talking with my host one evening, the lights suddenly got brighter. Everything in the house was more visible. I said “Oh, the electricity came back.” And she said, “No, the electricity just went out, and now we are battery. The battery power is stronger.” Shows you how much I know.

Now, I usually write about experiences that are presented to me on a daily basis, and I find spiritual meaning in them. In this case, I can’t.

I want power in my life. And for the lights of my life to run, I need external power. The power of the Holy Spirit is the external force that allows me to be the person that God has called me to be in the world today.

And there are ways in which I receive that power. I have devotions in the morning (I’ve been reading Oswald Chambers lately, he was quite a character!). I go to church on Sundays. I study the Bible. I used to sing in a choir (being a true circuit rider has taken away some blessings).

But I can’t correlate any of those to the alternative sources of power in Haiti. The electricity fails. The batteries drain. And by the way, when the batteries drain before the electricity goes out, they have diesel generators that kick in. But even the generators can run out of fuel.

No human effort is ultimately sufficient for anything. Our systems, as redundant and robust as we make them, fail. When the FBI’s website is hacked, you know EVERYBODY is vulnerable. Ultimately we are dependent on the one eternal source of power, our Creator and our Sustainer, our Heavenly Father. No measure of human ingenuity will ever surpass of supplant that.

So, I am left with the illustration being, on one hand, a proof of our own human failure, and our reliance on God. But on the other hand, it was a great illustration of the way Haitians cope and strive amidst very difficult circumstances. I deeply admired the brothers and sisters in Christ that I met there. They are remarkable people. And they will be the first to tell you that their hope, and their power, comes from the Lord. And nowhere else.

Back Stateside,
Craig

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. Proverbs 3:5-6