Recharge Your Battery

"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength." Isaiah 40:29

My wife and I recently got "smart phones" as part of signing up for a cheaper plan, but for all their brilliance, smart phone batteries don't last very long. In fact, my "dumb" phone can last several days without needing recharging. The reason smart phones require more recharging though is because they do more stuff. Phones used to be for talking, but now we've got texting, stock quotes, calorie counting, social networking, emailing, video chatting, web browsing, gaming and cameras - all in one device!
Like these phones, we live in an age where busyness abounds. People take on more and more activities, all the while spending less and less time recharging.  The Bible teaches us how to find "healing for our flesh and refreshment for our bones," but ours is a day where spiritual refreshment seems elusive.  Instead, we're continually adding activities in search of that one thing that will finally satisfy. We juggle our schedules and involve our kids in every activity known to man, all the while wondering why we feel burned out and drained.

As I was plugging in my phone the other day, I thought about this whole idea of spiritual refreshment and how we, like our phones, need recharging. Here are some thoughts:

·   If you don't plug in your phone, it will die.  You can still carry it around, but it won't be any use to you. 

·   In order for your phone to recharge, you must plug it in, set it down, and leave it there. It has to stay there for a couple hours - alone; quiet; still. No, it won't be very "productive" during this time, but this prolonged season of stillness will prepare it for a new season of productivity.

·   You can lay your phone down and even plug the cord into it, but if you don't plug the other end into an outlet, it won't  charge. "Power belongs to God" (Psalm 62:11). Stillness alone isn't sufficient. You must plug into God. "Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19). 

It's one thing to have electricity in your home, but a whole different thing to plug into it. A Christian can say, "I have Christ," but can he say, "I'm plugged in! I'm connected! I feel the power of God in me!"  Do you realize that you're just feet away from all the energy of heaven - and yet, how often do we plug into God?  When we do plug in, we often don't stay long enough to get fully charged.  But there are no shortcuts for spiritual refreshment. 
Finally, let us remember that the reason we charge our phones is so we can use them.  Christ fills and blesses us so that we can pour ourselves out for others and be a blessing to them, so we can spend ourselves for God. God told Abraham, "I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing (Gen 12:2)."  What if you made it your aim this coming week to plug into Christ, get fully recharged, and then give the best of your energy back to him?