Power

An Important Note on Spirit and Power:

The desire within us all to feel comfortable and safe can be a driver of many of the decisions that we make in daily life. This desire can sometimes lead us down a path to obtain power and strength as a means of protection or to a fortification of our respective positions. First, let us consider what power actually is. What does it look like?

In the movie Schindler’s List, the character Goeth says to Schindler: “You know, I look at you. I watch you. You're not a drunk. That's, that's real control. Control is power. That's power.”

Schindler replies: “Is that why they fear us?” Then the Nazi commander Goeth responds, “We have the power to kill, that's why they fear us.”

Then Schindler responds with what I believe to be an accurate description and definition of power: “They fear us because we have the power to kill arbitrarily. A man commits a crime, he should know better. We have him killed and we feel pretty good about it. Or we kill him ourselves and we feel even better. That's not power, though, that's justice. That's different than power. Power is when we have every justification to kill – and we don't.” (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Schindler%27s_List)

My contention is that strength is ability, and that power is ability with foreberance. When we have married strength and might with patience and wisdom, then we have achieved an understanding of true power.

Both personally and professionally this search for power may result in manipulative behavior or other control ‘issues.’ What other lessons can we learn from history regarding power. How do we get it? How do we use it once we have it? Let’s look at a famous quote about strength from a writer who lived in the first century A.D.

The apostle Paul says in a letter to the Philippians (4:13) that “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” By Him he was referring to Jesus. But it is important to note that power does not come automatically to us and definitely not apart from God’s will.  This verse in Philippians is often quoted, but almost always quoted without the benefit of any other verse or any adequate context. Balance is crucial in understanding this key promise of God’s to give us strength for whatever we may face in life. Zechariah 4:6 can provide such context: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” Approached in these terms we can see that God’s all sufficient strength is afforded to those who access that strength through God’s Holy Spirit.

But why would God give us strength? What could His motivation be? In Jeremiah (29:11) we read that God has “plans to give you hope and a future.” So God does have plans to prosper us and see us win through every battle in life. But we cannot make the mistake of separating His strength from His will for our lives. To do so would be like doing the worst possible thing (our will) in the best possible manner (in God’s strength) and as history has shown, this invariably leads to the least satisfactory outcomes.

Having the ability to act decisively in any given situation is good. But being able to pause, think through possible outcomes, and choose the wisest course of action (or inaction), this is true power. Power gives us the opportunity to respond to a situation or personality instead of merely reacting. And this is where Jeremiah 29:11 intersects our lives, that there is a purpose and we can have hope. By accessing God’s Holy Spirit we will truly be able to do “all things through Him who strengthens.”

by Jefferson Brian Holbrook