(The whole point of this blog post is for you to read a blog post from a friend of mine. I am going to steal some ideas from their post, or as I like to think of it, reflect the light from their post much like the moon does to the sun.)
A week or so ago some lights in multiple rooms of our house begin to flicker. It happened for a few minutes. No big deal. We ignored it. Turns out this flickering was a foreshadowing, or a symptom of a bigger problem. The lights flickering was an indicator.
We realized the real problem a few days later when the electrician was there to help us. We came home from church that day (Sunday) and our house had what is called "partial power." The electricity in our house seemed to be picking and choosing where it would work. No lights in the kitchen, but the fridge was still working. All over the house it was like this. Maybe the outlets would work, but the lights would not. Random, messy, frustrating. My children were scolding the house security system as it beeped repeatedly to warn us that it was on reserve battery power.
Every so often there would be a surge, and everything would light up, 100% electricity. Five minutes later the lights would dim slowly, then partial power once again. Carin was baking cookies in our electricity powered oven, but the partial power was draining the heat capacity of the oven. The cookies weren't cooking in the middle (turns out this doughy middle can be tasty).
When I saw a huge white spark behind our breaker box, I called the power company. Help!
Ten minutes later the technician was there. He checked our meter….full power coming into the house. He's not allowed to work on anything inside, just check the outside. He let us know it was definitely our problem and not a problem of the power company. The electricity they were providing was perfect.
I called my father-in-law, who can fix anything and does so for a living. He wanted me to pull out the breaker box, and tighten down all the wires to each individual circuit. Ha…sounds easy the way he described it.
I got a screwdriver, and pulled out the first screw of the breaker box. Wait a minute….this is a stupid way to die. I have no idea what I am doing, this is the router of electricity for our house, and I have seen it sparking.
Am I willing to die in process of fixing the problem?
I called an electrician. He got the box off the wall, the breakers pulled out, and the problem identified. There was a bad connection. For as long as my house has been standing, the lug nut things that connect the outside voltage to the metal plate in the breaker box were barely connected. The bad connection was finally separating all the way, touching then not touching, and back and forth. Thus the cycle of partial power, power surge, power dimming, and partial power again.
In six minutes and 37 seconds the electrician securely attached everything. Full power to the house. Everything working.
I am still alive. I have 125 less dollars. I have two kids who can now watch a Sunday evening Netflix cartoon after their bath time and before their bed time.
My life is like my house: partial power. The source of light into my spirit is perfect. God never fails.
Somehow though, in spite of God's perfect power, grace, and love flowing into my body, what comes out is distorted and diminished. Light that flickers and then dims, light that flashes and then burns out. A surge every so often, but most of the time it's random, messy, and frustrating. There is some kind of problem on the inside. Help!
Psalm 25:11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
My friends, Katie and Michael, are working in Kenya. The Lord has called them there. His power and love are flowing into them, and they are giving it their best shot to follow the Lord. I love to read about their adventure.
I want you to read part of their story. They struggle, too, with power surges. As you read their post, you'll notice where I plagiarized their ideas for this post, and you'll feel inspired to shine His light as well as you can, and to explore God's calling for your life.
Click here to read their blog entry called Power Surges.
