Power- Turn the light On!

Into month three in Papua New Guinea….I love this place and love the people.  Yes, some days are difficult (and what place isn't!) but overall, it is a joy to be here, to be serving God, teaching the students, getting to know new people, working on the language.

 On Wednesday, March 6^th the station was hit with strong winds and rains, and they called it a cyclone.  15-25 trees went down, and the most damage was on a home that Missionaries to Vanuatu were staying in.  It's completely a God thing that Jenny and Bennett, the wife and oldest of the three boys, escaped without harm.  Jenny had been preparing dinner in the kitchen in one side of the house when the storm suddenly blew in, but felt God telling her to go hide in the bathroom on the other side.  She and Bennett got into that room just prior to the huge tree landing on the kitchen side of the house.  The other God thing was that the house had just been remodeled, with a new support beam put up the center and new supports put into the bathroom as the others had started to rot.  The repairs done, helped to save their lives!  So, in the midst of the storm, God provided for them, and he continues to do the same for all of us.  This reminds me of the storm in Matthew 8.  Jesus could have prevented the storm, but He chose to use it to demonstrate His power!  He also could have prevented this storm, but instead He is using it to show how He is a God of protection, reliable in the midst of the storm and a provider of all that is truly needed. 

After the storm I was without power for over 2 days, andsome waited even longer.  Being without power is nothing new to Kudjip station.  Papua New Guinea has the most unreliable power supply of just about all the third world countries.  The station did have a hydro that was washed away about 7 years ago, and a new Hydro power plant is being worked on currently.  The project should be finished within the next year.  Power here goes out just about every day, some times for just a few minutes, sometimes for hours.  Sometimes it will go out numerous times in a span for an hour, really fun when you are trying to shower, wash clothes or do dishes, grade tests, or make copies on the copier!!!   In the week that followed the storm, the power was even more unreliable.  I got to the point where I just would expect it not to work, and planned accordingly for my classes, and all daily activities.  No power to make copies- no problem! Just write out the quiz on butcher block paper, have the students copy the questions and answers onto their notebook paper!  (Only problem was this takes three times longer to do!, so much less time to lecture on the next topic!)  But then a funny thing happens, the power does come back on.  But you are so use to making do without it, that you forget to use it!  You start to light a candle, or use a flashlight to read at night, instead of turning on the overhead light.  You use alcohol gel to clean your hands, when the bathroom sink actually does work!  You decide to go for a walk instead of a run, so you won't need to shower as bad!  You have dinner at 5:00 when you are not really hungry so you don't have to cook/eat in the dark!  Doing all these things was not too much of an issue, life was ok, we made it work.  But when the power is on, it seems really silly to do some of them!

 This got me to thinking about God, and His power.  It is readily available to all of us, all the time. Sometimes we choose not to use it though.   We don’t ask for His help, or we don’t believe totally in His word.  He is right there, just like that light switch, ready to be our ever present help in time of need.  How often do we not let Him turn the power on?  How often do we sit there in the dark of our lives, making do, telling ourselves, "This isn't so bad, I can handle this", when He is right there, ready and waiting for us to turn to Him and His power.    I was very thankful for that reminder this month.  I have a tendency to be very self-sufficient, which is a good thing (at times!)  It also can get in the way of God really using you, or you limiting God.  I have relied on God even more in this past month than I have had to previously, because the nature of things required it.  He would reveal a new area of my life, or a new place for growth, and I just have to give it to Him.  When He shows you a new "light switch" in your life, let Him turn the power on!  Or if you have never experienced His power, the power of belief in Him, the power of forgiveness, don't sit there in the dark any longer.  Life in the light is so much better! 

So my main lesson this month is to be ever thankful for God's power, to never forget that He is right there, at work.  Sometimes His power is visible, sometimes it is not, but unlike the power in PNG, it has never, and will never fail me or you!