Luke 24:44-49

44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

During the wee hours this morning as I laid in bed, wrestling with insomnia, the ceiling fan in our bedroom abruptly turned off. When I sat up and looked down the hallway I noticed that the small table lamp wasn’t on either…and the house was completely silent.

Power outage.

I grabbed my cell phone and turned the flashlight app on to find my way to the front window. I peered out to see if it was a neighborhood outage or just our house (which would have made me wonder if the bill payment got lost in the mail!).

Since I was wide awake, I decided to report the subdivision outage online. After entering our street address, a message popped up, informing me that crews were already working to remove a fallen tree from a power line in our city.

Back to bed.

When the temperature in our room began to rise and beads of sweat began accumulating on my forehead, my body refused to go back to sleep. As I tossed and turned in the dark, I began thinking about how much I take our power for granted…. and how dependent I am on it- for everything.

In the same way, I sometimes take the power of the Holy Spirit for granted…. and fail to know that I can depend on Him – for everything. As a result, occasional power outages occur in my life.

Yet, when I am still in the silence and ask the Lord (or a fellow believer brings revelation through a rebuke) the Holy Spirit shines His flashlight app on the dark areas of my soul. Then- and only then, am I able to see the sin that’s been hiding in the shadows.

Thankfully, His mercy is available every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) and every morning we can choose to plug in to the Truth found in His Word and communicate with Him: “Lord, am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with You? Am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with my husband? Am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with our children? Am I suffering from a power outage in my relationship with others in the body of Christ?”

Once He reveals the rotten fruit and how the tree has fallen on the power line, we can engage our will by surrendering, confessing and repenting. And immediately, His forgiveness flips the breaker back on so that we can live our day to the full… with the power of His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Galatians 5:19-23

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!