Author: Harlan Sorrell
In the early 1990’s I heard a taped sermon by a preacher of a certain denomination on the subject of “Where Is the Power?” In his discourse, the preacher seemed to be lamenting the lack of a manifestation of God’s power among what he understood to be the church. Later, as I meditated on this thought, the Lord dropped the following answer into my own mind, which I wrote on paper and have kept in my files through the years. Recently I added just a few more thoughts to what I wrote down originally.
Where is the power? Well, the power is still just where it has always been! Following His resurrection, Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matt. 28:18. God Almighty has invested all power both in heaven and in earth in His Son, Jesus Christ. That power is still there and has never diminished. The problem is that some people do not make the proper connections with the power source.
Our electrical power companies generate millions of volts of electricity each day, but all that power will not do us any good until the circuits to our home have been properly connected. Circuits must be prepared to carry different voltages, according to the power needed by particular appliances. All the power you need for any appliance is available when the proper connections are made. And so it is with Christ. He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20), or we might say, according to our connections with Him, the power source.
Sometimes short circuits occur. A foreign object makes contact with the circuit somewhere between us and the power source and the current becomes grounded. When this happens we have a power failure. A little affinity with the world will short circuit our connection with Christ, and the result will be power failure. There are a number of other things which can cause “shortages” and “failures.” If you are experiencing a shortage or loss of power, examine all your circuits. All the power you need is available to you when the circuits are cleared and the proper connections made.
In order for the power of electricity to be beneficial to us, it is necessary that it be conducted to us through a transformer according to the proportion of voltage we need. Otherwise the power would burn us up! It is the same with the great power of God. The Holy Spirit is the Transformer who conducts God’s power to every individual according to the proportion he or she needs. He will not distribute too little or too much, but just what you need at every time you need it. There will be power to resist temptation, power to overcome the devil, power to die to “self” and submit to the will of God, power to witness for Christ, and whatever else you need power for in living the Christian life.
“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Acts 1:8. That power is found in the abiding presence of Christ and God in the heart, through the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father has sent in Christ’s name. (See John 14:15-28.)
