- Once was early in our marriage when I came home from a week away (in South Carolina summer heat) to find the freezer in our shed in the backyard was unplugged. By some weird circumstance, the power for our shed was also hooked to a community center building just down the hill in the small farming community where we lived. Someone using the community center turned on the power to that building and mistakenly turned the power to our freezer off!
- The second time was soon after we moved to Pittsburgh. I kept noticing a smell that seemed to get worse and worse and seemed most prominent in the master bathroom. Turned out the disgusting smell came from the laundry-shoot.
In both cases an entire freezer full of meet and other foods had gone to mush and rot. In the case of my Pittsburgh freezer, that included several hand-made gingerbread houses carefully frozen between Christmases. They were mush, too. My handyman husband had unplugged the freezer to use a power tool of some kind and just forgotten to plug it back in.
Both cases of "freezer shock" were disgusting and a lot of yucky work. It is pretty simple to plug an electrical cord into the outlet. In both cases, the right cord (the one connected to the freezer) was left unplugged resulting in loss of perfectly good food, frustration and a whole lot of very yucky, disgusting work!
My "freezer shock" stories illustrate a "life truth"! Being plugged into THE source of power - which is God Himself - is essential in walking with Jesus. Just like plugging into an outlet is a pretty simple exercise, "plugging" into God's power for life is also simple when we follow simple and basic steps:
- "Plug" in intentionally (just like the electrical cord).
- "Plug" in consistently (The plug has to connected or tragic consequences result)!
Prayer is our power cord. Our faith grows in direct proportion to our connection to God's spiritual power. When we don't stay connected, our progress toward restoration (actually the sanctification process) flickers and falters.
What I found inside my freezers on both occasions was beyond disgusting and beyond restoration. All that mush was only good for garbage! "Freezer shock" is unexpected, but it follows the natural progression - unplug the freezer and what's inside turns to rot and disgusting mush. Spiritual "freezer shock" is the same. I have to intentionally stay plugged into my only source of spiritual life and strength with consistency. I have to spend time every day seeking God's wisdom for life in reading His Word. I must spend time every day praying - confessing sin, repenting, asking for strength to be light in darkness wherever I go! When I "unplug" things go to mush quickly! Just the "tyranny of the urgent" can cause a disconnect between God and me. And the result is pretty ugly!
God's promise is sure and true: "... the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (2 Chronicles 16:9a)
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