Power Outage

Super Bowl 47 was filled with drama. Of course, the Super Bowl is much more than the two teams playing for the NFL Championship.  It has become a national holiday.  The game was exciting, most of the commercials were entertaining and Beyonce proved her critics wrong after her lip sync debacle at the inauguration.  However, what overshadowed the Super Bowl was the power outage that came minutes into the third quarter.  Jacoby Jones had just run back at 109 yard kick-off return for a touchdown putting the Ravens up on the 49ers by a score of 28-6.  The lights went off and the New Orleans Superdome was completely dark.

How could this happen?  The whole world was watching this unfold.  Did someone forget to pay the power bill?  Someone suggested the 49ers were trying to disturb the momentum of the Ravens.  The city of New Orleans power company must have been frantically working to get the electricity turned back on.  As players kept loose on the sidelines, the lights gradually returned.  Thirty four minutes later, they continued the game.

As I reflect on this power outage, I'm reminded of Acts 1:8.  This Scripture says, "You will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses."  I know of many "Christians" who are dealing with a power outage.  God calls us to live unashamedly as witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are called to be His witness.  The source of the power behind our witness is the Holy Spirit.  The person who is bold and confident in sharing their faith is one who is completely surrendered to the Holy Spirit.  If we're not full of the Holy Spirit, then we will have a power outage.

I'm sure that many people feel as if the city of New Orleans took a black eye because of the power outage.  What a bummer to have the whole world watching your city host the Super Bowl and then to have the power go out.  Far greater than that, is the embarrassment we are as we fail to be the witnesses God calls us to be.  For those of us who have called upon the name of Jesus Christ to be saved, we have the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit lives in us.  We also are able to pray again and again for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit as we become empowered.  It is not a matter of mustering up the courage to share our faith, it is about being empowered by the Holy Spirit and allowing the life of Jesus to speak through you to a world that is lost.