I am presently in Omaha at an annual summit of a writer's team of which I am a part. We all brought our lap-tops and set them up around the table, looking more like the Executive Board of a Fortune 500 company than a bunch of common folk who write for the Lord! Yet, when I searched through my brief case, the power cord for my laptop was nowhere to be found. I searched my luggage: nothing. It was then I had a vague memory of wrapping the power cord in my hand, then laying it down to rush upstairs and answer my telephone. The cord never got packed. But Steve, the kind husband of one of the local writers said he would gladly go out shopping to try to find me a replacement cord.
He called after searching several stores and said the cord would cost me around $79. I was amazed at this high cost and said, "Never mind. I'll do without it!" But this caring man was on a mission to help. He went home and searched his house for anything that might work. Later in the day he showed up where we were working and had an old Gateway power source cord in his hand. Even though I own an Acer laptop, the old cord worked and suddenly I had "power" again!
The next day the leader of the group put on a dinner for our group of writers and also the intercessors who regularly pray for our work. We went around the table answering the question "What was the highlight of these past two days?" When it came to Steve, he very quietly and humbly anwered, "For me, the highlight was being able to find that cord for Kelly. That really made me happy!" My spirit rejoiced. It was such a small thing, and yet it had brought Steve great joy to do this for me. It was in that moment that I thought about the greater Power that had been given. Alone I had not been able to plug into the power and complete my work. But with the willing help and kindness of a stranger, I got plugged in!
I don't think any of us ever really get fully plugged into the power of the Holy Spirit alone. We need one another. In this week's Torah readings, we see a depressed Elijah, who thinks he is absolutely the only one left who believes in the God of Israel, and he loses his power, sits under a tree and asks God to take his life. But what is God's response? "All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.' He looked around and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.'" (1 Kings 19:5-8)
It's not that my lack of a power cord for my laptop had thrown me into suicidal depression! It's the simple message that as part of the Body of Messiah we never have to feel that we are alone - and we should never assume that we can accomplish something alone, or under our own power.
Through Steve's simple caring and kindness, I got a cord to plug me back into the power - both physically and spiritually. Two are better than one, and A THREE-FOLD CORD CAN NEVER BE BROKEN!
