Empowering

 "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we may not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us." 2 Corinthians 1: 8-10

    With the onset of a new school year, the work-related meetings have begun for me with their usual pep talks containing the appropriate buzz words like "impactful" and "empowering." The oft-repeated ideology that nettles me most is this belief that we can empower ourselves, that somewhere within the core of humanity, we have the ability to rustle up ample amounts of faith, courage and power simply by believing in ourselves. 

    Is this really so? Do we have transformative power? It may appear true for a while, as long as the sailing is smooth, but when the patterns of sin and brokenness leave their gritty trails causing self-esteem to plummet like iron to the ocean floor, then where does one turn? 

    Do we have the power to delay a sunrise, add an hour to our lives or grow sunflowers without seeds? As the Lord rhetorically quizzed Job, "Have you shown the dawn its place? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you entered the storehouses of snow?" (Job 38: 12, 17, 22) 

    True empowerment only comes from the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that, while we were still powerless, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6) When Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection, He gifted His believers with His Holy Spirit who incredibly takes up residence in our hearts! He's our own personal source of power, like being plugged in to an electrical outlet. And what a source this is, for "the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)

    When at work, I passed a small poster taped near a classroom entrance which was meant to be inspirational. From a secular standpoint, I am sure it sounds like good advice to tell students to "have faith in yourself, believe in yourself, empower yourself," but these words are like eating styrofoam peanuts. There's no nourishment in them.

    The writer of the verses above had reached such dire straits that he felt he could not go on, despairing even of life itself. When he had depleted all human resources and his strength was gone, that's when he realized from Whom his deliverance would come. He had to fully rely on God. Only He has the power to empower you.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." 2 Corinthians 4:7