{"id":4630,"date":"2013-04-25T09:21:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T13:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=4630"},"modified":"2013-05-09T09:14:40","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T13:14:40","slug":"discouraged-it-may-be-a-power-outage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/04\/discouraged-it-may-be-a-power-outage.html","title":{"rendered":"Discouraged? It May Be a Power Outage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stressed\"<\/a>Have you ever experienced a power outage? For the past two days, I have.<\/p>\n

For no apparent reason, I stopped getting power to my house. I felt completely cut off from the world, no TV, computer, ability to cook, or see in the dark. And I began to think.<\/p>\n

The Christian life is like this. Most of us operate as if we are in a power outage on a regular basis. We passively accept whatever comes our way and struggle in our own strength to get through the day \u00a0Most days, we operate as if we are not connected to any power source. No wonder we walk around anxious and stressed. It’s hard to function without power. It’s discouraging.<\/p>\n

When the problem at my house was finally diagnosed, it was a wire underground that had slowly been eroding. Buried in the ground, I had a cable that was no longer carrying the power. Once that cable was exposed, it could be fixed.<\/p>\n

How often do we keep things deeply buried that slowly erode our joy–hurts, offenses, wounds, that we don’t deal with, yet they are under the surface, doing damage \u00a0to our physical, emotional and spiritual lives? We refuse to expose them because of the hurt, yet they are damaging and need to be exposed.<\/p>\n

Once the line causing the problem at my house was fixed, \u00a0I was connected again to the power source and everything turned back on. But the lesson wasn’t missed.<\/p>\n

Stay connected to the power source. Don’t forget what you have to help you through the day. We are connected to the One who can move mountains, who can heal diseases, who can turn sorrow into joy, who can give peace during life storms, who can fight on our behalf, etc. Yet, we allow distractions and life cares, and allow old hurts and wounds to disconnect us from the power of God. Today, examine your life.<\/p>\n

If the power is out, get reconnected!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever experienced a power outage? For the past two days, I have. For no apparent reason, I stopped getting power to my house. I felt completely cut off from the world, no TV, computer, ability to cook, or see in the dark. And I began to think. The Christian life is like this.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[916],"tags":[135,304,512,17,1984,134],"class_list":["post-4630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-relationship","tag-anxiety","tag-depression","tag-discouragement","tag-stress-2","tag-stressed","tag-worry"],"yoast_head":"\nDiscouraged? 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