Dead batteries range from being small inconveniences to major, expensive hassles. If it’s a watch, well, a quick trip to a store and it’s done. If it’s a string of Christmas lights, ditto. If it’s a computer, you just charge it up again. But, if it’s your car battery that develops a death rattle on your way to a restaurant for dinner with friends, while you are inside a highway tunnel on the Sunday evening of a holiday weekend, well, the amplitude of difficulty increases just a tad. At the exit of the tunnel, it was obvious, by the blinking dashboard lights and the lurching of my car, that total shutdown was imminent. I managed to find a convenient pull-off spot on an adjoining ramp to another highway when its last gasp occurred. Immediate thought: we’re not going to make it to the restaurant to enjoy the evening with friends as planned. Next thought: how to explain to a towing service where we were? We weren’t on a named road, just an entrance ramp. Sue called up our coordinates on her phone which we communicated to our service provider. We were eventually found and were treated to the 55-mile trek back home in the cab of the generous and pleasant young tow truck driver. (we’re convinced he took pity on this old couple all dressed up and nowhere to go).A brief four days later the car was repaired, albeit accompanied by a painful bank account withdrawal.
The Holy Spirit living in each of us is like our unstoppable, never-fatigued, un-drainable, divine ‘battery.’ He provides boundless energy supplemented with morning-by-morning renewals of God’s mercies and compassions. He is always more than enough for all our needs, for all the assignments we receive, for all the setbacks we endure as finite beings in a fallen world. His teachings, his lighting of the way before us, his gifts to us, his equipping us with the spiritual weaponry necessary for the battles in which we are called to engage, his moment-by-moment reminders of the greatest love which is now ours, are all part of his mission to fortify the church for the building of the Kingdom. The Apostle Paul tells us (Ephesians 2:10 TPT): “We have become his poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it!” One thousand years before Paul gave that revelation (and one thousand years before Jesus came), here’s the incredibly exciting, pre-Jesus, pre-Pentecost understanding of King David in his relationship with God: “With you as my strength I can crush an enemy horde, advancing through every stronghold that stands in front of me. What a God you are! Your path for me has been perfect! All your promises have proven true. What a secure shelter for all those who turn to hide themselves in you! You are the wrap-around God giving grace to me. Could there be any other god like you? You are the only God to be worshiped, for there is not a more secure foundation to build my life upon than you. You have wrapped me in power, and now you’ve shared with me your perfection. Through you I ascend to the highest peaks of your glory to stand in the heavenly places, strong and secure in you. You’ve trained me with the weapons of warfare-worship; now I’ll descend into battle with power to chase and conquer my foes. You empower me for victory with your wrap-around presence. Your power within makes me strong to subdue, and by stooping down in gentleness you strengthened me and made me great! You’ve set me free from captivity and now I’m standing complete, ready to fight some more!” Psalm 18:29-36 TPT. Frankly, I think we could do no better, even now, these two thousand years later, than to make King David’s declaration ours. It’s cut-it-out-and-stick-it-on-the-mirror good! PD