What a Power Outlet Taught Me about God

People often ask me, “What is the biggest difference between living in America and living in the Middle East?” And while there are certainly some big differences, most of the difference comes from the accumulation of a lot of little things—things that you don’t even know to think about until you experience them. Take power outlets, for instance. Pictured below is a contemporary standard outlet in America.

Until I traveled outside the United States, it never occurred to me that any other kind of power outlet existed (other than the two-pronged version found in older houses). Turns out, there are a lot of different types of outlets across the world, including here in the Middle East, where the outlets look like this:

Growing up, I became familiar with outlet adapters from staying at my grandparents’ where we had to use them to convert our three-pronged plugs into two-pronged ones, so having to use adapters for my phone and computer chargers when I moved to the Middle East wasn’t that foreign of a concept. But it isn’t just the plugs and outlets that are different.

The voltage is different too. So it doesn’t matter whether the plug fits in the outlet if the voltage capacity of the device doesn’t match the voltage coming from the outlet. In that case, the device either won’t turn on, or it will fry. To fix the problem, you need a voltage adapter as well as an outlet adapter to help convert the electricity into something that the device can handle.

While it may not be a perfect analogy, thinking about all these adapters made me think about the spiritual adapters we need in our lives. God’s Word, the Bible, is like an outlet adapter. We come to it in our fallen humanness and through it are able to encounter God, the Power Source. As the primary means by which we learn about God, the Bible is one of the main ways that we become connected to Him.

But not everyone who reads the Bible understands what they read or receives strength and encouragement from it. I’m reminded what Paul wrote about preaching God’s Word: “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24, ESV). To some the Gospel and God’s Word is a stumbling block or folly instead of the power and wisdom of God. So what makes the difference?

God’s Word is powerful on its own, yes and absolutely (see Isaiah 55:11 and Hebrews 4:12), but there is a means by which the power of God’s Word is effective, and that is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One through whom the human writers of the Bible were divinely inspired (see 2 Peter 1:21 and Acts 4:25). And the Holy Spirit is the One who equips human readers to understand the truth that they read.

So If God’s Word is like the outlet adapter, the Holy Spirit is like the voltage adapter. Without the aid of God the Holy Spirit, we are not able to handle the power coming from Him as the Power Source. But the Holy Spirit, our Helper (see John 16:7), equips us to handle the power of receiving and processing the Word of God.

Before Jesus, God the Son, was crucified, He told His disciples that there was much more they had yet to hear and understand: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12, ESV). When and how would they be able to bear them? We find the answer in the next verse: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14, ESV). With the help of the Holy Spirit, the disciples would be able to bear the truth without crumbling under its weight. In the same way, with the help of our Voltage Adapter, the Holy Spirit, we are able to bear the incoming power of the truth of God’s Word. He enlarges our capacity to receive what God the Father has to give us.

So how are you trying to live your life as a Christian? Are you dragging along without much power? Does God seem distant and disconnected? If you feel as if you never hear from God or experience His power in your life, try asking yourself if you’re really utilizing your Outlet Adapter (the Bible) to plug into God’s very thoughts and words delivered to you in writing. And if you’ve got your Outlet Adapter securely in place, but you still feel like you’re disconnected from the Power Source, be sure to plug into your Voltage Adapter (the Holy Spirit) before, while, and after you read. Ask Him to give you the understanding, to guide you into the truth, and to help you internalize and live out what God Almighty, the Power Source, has delivered to you in His Word. 

PC: Daniel Basha. Used with permission.

Never-ending

Lamentations 3:22-23 are some of the most encouraging verses in the Bible and perhaps also some of the most well-known, thanks to the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” which is based on them.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

            his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness” (ESV).

Whenever I’ve heard sermons or discussions about these verses, the part that seems to be emphasized the most is the fact that God’s mercies are new every morning, and certainly that is an encouraging truth. Regardless of how much we have messed up the day before, each morning we are met, not with condemnation, but with mercies from God, and not just any mercies, but fresh mercies. It’s not yesterday’s leftovers that we are left to ration out throughout the day. Each morning God gives us brand new compassion to carry us through.

When I was reading these verses some time ago, though, another phrase stood out to me about His mercies that is just as encouraging. They “never come to an end.” Take a moment and think about how amazing that is. So many things in life—including earthly life itself—come to an end eventually, and endings often come with grief. We finish a good book or film; we move away; we say goodbye, and regardless of what new things are beginning, we still are left with a feeling of loss and sadness that a good thing did not last. Such is our lot here on this temporary earth of temporary things where Eternity is still in our future.

But there is a Being who exists beyond space and time and for whom Eternity is now (and has always been) present—"the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8, ESV). He is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8, ESV), which means that He never changes. And if He never changes, then every aspect of His character is constant and never-ending. This means there will never ever be a point, in time or outside of it, when God’s mercy and compassion stop. There will never ever come a time when His love runs out or His faithfulness is depleted. We will never ever face a day when we must grieve the ending of God’s kindness. We’re often told to “never say never,” but when it comes to God, we can confidently say that who He is will never change.

In a world where it can seem that good things never last, we can find great joy and deep assurance in the fact that God’s mercies last forever. In a world where so little can be depended on, we can wholeheartedly depend on His faithfulness. His mercies are new in the morning, yes, but there also will never be a morning where they will cease to exist. The fountain of His love will never run dry. His tender care will never disappear from our lives. What a beautiful, calming, bolstering thought.

So the next time you are disappointed by the world or the people in it, the next time you must navigate the process of grieving an ending, the next time you feel like there is nothing solid to hold on to, read these verses and meditate on the constancy of God’s character and the never-ending nature of His good gifts to His children. Will you join me even today in thanking God for this marvelous truth?

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;”

PC: Pamela Hollis. Used with permission.