Plugged In

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

-- 2 Corinthians 12:9

If the statisticians are right, 2017's holiday retail sales figures will exceed $680 billion in the United States. And one thing for certain is that a high percentage of these purchases will be for computerized electronic devices such as smart phones, digital assistants (like Amazon Alexa) and ultra-high-definition TVs.

Another sure-thing is that many of the gift-getters won't hold off on using their expensive new toys. The boxes will be opened and everything will look good-to-go. And after some tinkering and a bit of giddy anticipation, they'll push the ON button. And then...nothing.

They'll think they covered the bases. And after frantically skimming the instructions manual for the fourth time, they'll call the manufacturer's customer service help line. Then after 10 minutes on-hold, it will finally dawn on them: They forgot to plug it in.

Isn't this the perfect illustration of our spiritual lives? How many times have we been crushed by a seemingly impossible situation or gigantic challenge, only to look back and recall that we forgot to ask for God's power--his help and guidance? Jesus illustrates this principle though the vital relationship between a vine (him) and its branches (his followers):

"Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me," he explains. "I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. If you don't stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire."

The problem is that we tend to convince ourselves that we don't need anyone's help. Everything is OK, we say. All is right with the world.

But we know these words are false as soon as they pass our lips. Rather than branching out alone and trying to be our own vine, we must stay connected to our Creator and acknowledge our own weaknesses. It's this desirable attitude of humility that puts us in the perfect position for his power to flow through us.

Paul, the unlikely missionary to the Gentiles who wrote much of the New Testament, not only understood this connection, he lived by it:

"... But he (Jesus) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Feeling overwhelmed and helpless this holiday season--or any other day of the year, for that matter? Now's the time to connect with the One who can do all things. Don't forget to plug into the Power.