Hurricanes and Power Loss

I recall an instance from several years ago while Jen and I were still living in our first home. I was in my kitchen and I heard a loud ‘bang’ followed by what appeared to be flashes of light seen through the front window. It was daytime so I knew it had to be a significant light source.

I walked out of my house and saw a full size tractor-trailor about 4 doors down from me. The roof of the container had snagged an electrical wire which had snapped and now lay beneath the truck, sparking on the wet ground and sending out some serious noise and light. I was the first person on the scene. The driver looked terrified. Like, this was maybe the most scared human being I had ever seen. He warned me to stay clear and to go call 911. Which I did with all due haste.

The downed line quit arcing after a few minutes and the fire trucks were on the site even before then. All ended well. But I learned a pretty powerful lesson that day about how powerful electricity is.

Right now there are a LOT of people on Long Island without it, thanks to Hurricane Irene. I went for a long walk through my neighborhood two nights ago and heard dozens of generators. Those without power are learning first hand how important it is to stay plugged in. How our lives are immediately affected and radically changed without power.

It’s like that for your soul too. You need to stay plugged in. Connected to your source. You don’t much think about the electricity in those sockets until your appliances stop working. And most people don’t think much about being disconnected from God until they find themselves in crisis.

There’s some irony in this analogy. Those without electricity find themselves spending a lot of time in stillness, which is very conducive to connecting to God. Those with electricity are constantly fighting the battle of noise and busyness and have a harder time plugging in to the more important power source.

So where are you on the spectrum? Are you grateful for the electricity now powering that computer you’re using? That’s good. Gratitude is a huge part of this equation. But maybe while so many others are praying for the juice to start flowing again, it might be a good idea for us to unplug from the craziness of our lives and sit still with Him for a while.

Food for thought.

“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.” Psalm 46:10