Power Surge - The Revolution of My Soul
The year after I graduated from college was the year that shaped me. It was the year the power surged. I am going to tell you about it in just a little while. This blog is part of an assignment and some of my friends already know this story pretty well. For those who don't, please allow me a detour first.
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One night, I was sitting up late surfing through On-Demand, trying to find something to interest me and I stumbled upon this show called "Revolution". I do not remember ever seeing any commercials for this show but it airs on NBC and I had missed the first four or five episodes. The Title caught my attention because, you know, like most idealistic people, I'm always interested in revolution. Just the word itself stirs up all types of scenarios in my head. So, the show is super fast paced and a little corny but it's based upon the scenario of what might happen to the world if the power went out. I enjoy the backdrop of the show more than anything else about it, if you know what I mean. It's sort of like The Hunger Games meets 24 with a little bit of Lost thrown in for effect....
So, anyway ---- I think it's the end of the second show when for a brief moment the electricity in a room turns back on and the source of power seems to be a little medallion on a necklace. (I'm getting to my point, I promise!) Well, just as soon as the two characters in the room get over the shock of there actually being electricity, they start digging in their bags for old i-phones, etc... One character tries to pull up pictures of the children she lost in the blackout. The other scrambles to hear his favorite music.... a style that no longer exists due to the power outage. Then, just as suddenly as the power came on, it goes back off. They don't know what made the medallion work but now they have tasted hope and possibility. Consequently, within moments they realize they must immediately set the course of their lives in one direction. They give themselves over to a mission (full of mystery and peril, of course) to turn the power back on.
Power Surge
I can identify with this experience. Early Spring 1997 I had a "crisis experience" and during that time I completely turned my life over to God. Up until that point I had sort of been... wishy-washy. I gave into sin a lot and consequently I had made a total wreck of my life. Some would say I rededicated my life to God in that moment. Others would say I was sanctified or "set apart". I am not convinced that terminology matters a great deal at this juncture. But, rest assured it was an intensely real, beautiful and powerful moment for me.... and very much needed. I had been standing in the middle of a river on a rock crying out to God in the most sincere way I ever had (When I say sincere, I mean honest and irreverent) when everything changed. I still remember the water rushing under my feet, the sound of horses running toward me and the feeling of being snatched up - permanently rescued but upon my own will. This was not forced upon me at all. I know it sounds far fetched but it is the honest truth. Even though the moment passed and I was still just standing there on that rock, I have never been the same since then. I have a permanent image in my head of sitting upon a horse with my arms wrapped around the waist of Christ himself and I am holding on as if my life depends upon it - because it does!
I have had times of trouble. I have faltered and I have entertained doubts during times of weakness. But, I have never returned to the place of spiritual and emotional depravity I had been at before that moment. I have always held on to hope and faith. Even if all that was left of it was a scrap, it has always been enough to pull me back out. And, I was different. You can ask anyone who knew me. They may not have known what happened but they knew something was different.
Personal Revolution
So, from that point forward, God has strengthened my faith and during that year, it was just phenomenal. One major example stands out most of all. Sometime within the next year (maybe the next Spring - it would be great if an EC Singer will help me out here), I was at work when I received a call from the director of the EC Singers. He said he was in need of another voice for tour and would I please prayerfully consider taking off for two weeks to sing with them. He said he needed to know within 24 hrs. As he was speaking, my heart was stirring and I knew the answer had to be, "yes", even if that meant losing my job. I hung up and sort of went through the motions at work while I silently prayed. My co-worker asked me about my disposition and I shared. She said she would help me pray. She knew the obstacles: I had no money and how in the world could I get two weeks off with such short notice. We were already short-staffed. The next morning, I went in and spoke with my boss. She did not argue with me one minute. She just went to work on the schedule but I didn't get the "warmest" feeling from her.
So the morning came for me to leave for Georgia to join the tour. The only problem was that I did not even have enough money to put in my car for gas. I prayed again and felt assured that this was really what I was supposed to do. So, I packed my car for the trip and went to work. I said nothing to anyone. Yet, within ten minutes, my co-worker pulled me aside and said, "Karen, this doesn't happen often but I was having my devotion at home this morning and I really feel like the Lord wants me to give you this. She opened her hands and it was a twenty dollar bill. Now, back then, gas was way cheaper and that was plenty to get me to Georgia and buy a meal along the way. A knot formed in my throat as I felt faith, courage and gratitude rising in me. I didn't attempt words. I just hugged her.
We continued preparing the store for opening and a little while later, my boss buzzed me on the intercom and told me she needed to speak with me. It felt like a long walk through the building to her office but when I got there, in her typical no-nonsense fashion, she handed me a twenty dollar bill and said, "Here. This is for your trip. I'll be praying that God will use you." That was all I could take. The tears fell down my face. Now, I had enough money to get back home and I knew that all my meals during the tour would be provided by the Singers. So, I shared with my boss and my co-worker what the situation had been and all of us had our faith strengthened that day before I left. It felt like I flew on a cloud to Georgia that day. I was moving in a different realm of reality that I had always heard of but never experienced before to that degree. My heart pounded at the thought that it was real and that I was DEFINITELY doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing.
As if this were not enough, I spent the night at a friend's house that night. This was a specific effort to avoid a tempting situation that I would have otherwise found myself in. The year before, I would have walked right into the trap with both eyes open but this year I had been learning that God provides a way of escape if we are willing to take it. So, I took it. We had a good time together that night, sharing how God was moving in our lives. The next morning, as she was saying goodbye to me, she laid a bag full of change on my dash. It was ten dollars worth of coins. She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I thought maybe you could use it." I was blessed leaving her house that morning. I had such a feeling of peace and joy and confidence.
So, I joined up with everyone else that day and started practicing the music but I felt like a rubber ball waiting to be bounced. All I needed was a thump and I was ricocheting off of everything and everyone - bubbling over with this urge to tell everyone what had been happening to me. That tour was life-changing for me. As I said at the start of this blog - it shaped me. God used me in ways those two weeks that he never had before. As we were asked to pray for people at the close of services, God would reveal things to me about the people I prayed for and I was able to speak God's wisdom and comfort into their lives. One night I placed my hand on one woman's head to pray (because I felt impressed to pray for her mind). She just fell down on the floor before I even said one word. That had never happened to me before. When she got up, I started praying with her about removing the idols from her life, getting rid of fear and putting God first. She was shaking and crying. Later, she told me that she literally had idols (stone gods) in her house that her mother's family had prayed to. I can't remember what religion she said she been growing up but in my memory, she was Asian. She had kept the idols after marrying her husband and converting to christianity out of fear for what curse she might bring on herself by throwing them away. She left that night encouraged that God's power was greater than any evil she feared and that his love for her was deep enough to tell her exactly what she needed to hear.
Because of the surge of joy and faith I was experiencing, I was also able to be an encouragement to many of the singers around me (or so I have been told). God continued to provide "extras" for me throughout the entire tour. I remember getting back on the bus one time after we had been shopping at a mall. I didn't have money to buy anything (which I was fine with) but my friend, Seth White, had seen me looking at a CD. When he got on the bus, he handed that CD to me. He said he had just wanted to bless me. And, I truly did feel blessed. It was more than two full weeks of overwhelming blessings and powerful insights just pouring into my heart and mind. I was being transformed - revolutionized.
So this brings me to the main verse I was asked to study this week:
15 years later I am struggling to relearn this verse again. It seems most of that excitement, confidence and joy got buried somewhere under a mountain of dirty laundry only to make an appearance when I make a special point of "stirring up the gifts within" me. Although, I do believe God has continued to transform me. I could easily argue that it took more faith to keep my faith after cancer took my mother from me than it did to walk away from my job and drive to Georgia with no gas in my tank - or to remember that the joy of the Lord is my strength as I have wrestled with situations and phases of life that have brought sadness, boredom or feelings of abandonment and discouragement. The challenge has been to keep having faith that no matter what happens it is all for the good. The bible says that "all things work out together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes." So, my job is to just make a choice about whether that's true or not.
This week, the main thing I took away from this study passage of scripture are five words, "the pattern of this world". Looking back on my "power surge", I can clearly see that God was helping me learn to cast away the patterns of this world and allow my mind to be transformed and renewed. He first used my fear of losing my job, and my anxiety over finances to transform my mind. The pattern of this world would say that it was completely illogical for me to have accepted that request. It was very unwise to leave a minimum wage job for two weeks with very little notice and expect to have employment when I returned. It was completely moronic to pack my car and think I would somehow make it to Georgia on 1/4 a tank of gas. It was silly of me to think I was really hearing God speak to my heart. I mean, does God really do that?
Apparently, He does. And, once I let go of fear and took hold of faith, the proverbial windows of Heaven opened up and begin to pour themselves onto me, renewing me and helping me be able to truly understand what God's perfect will is.
Ever since then, I have been on a mission to keep that power turned on in my life and to bring others around that source of power. Like those characters on "Revolution", sometimes I wander off the path or encounter all kinds of obstacles, surprise "attacks" and disappointments that seemed designed just to thwart my purpose. But, that power surge has been unforgettable and by the end of every season, I somehow find myself on course!
Be blessed today. If this has encouraged you, may I humbly suggest you to find a quiet place and speak to God about it. You can surrender your life to Him too. I promise you, it's worth it.
If you'd like to read more stories like this one, you can go to the blog hop at: http://melissataylor.org/
or maybe someone else will share their power surge story.
