The Power Room

Two men were visiting a factory where they were shown the rooms where huge machines were operating.  Inside those rooms, the noise level was extremely high. Then, the guide showed them a smaller room which was very quiet. One of the men commented that there was not much going on in this particular room.  To which the guide replied, “This is the most important room in the entire plant. This is where the power comes from to run the huge machines. “We call this room ‘The Quiet Room.’” In the same way, the “Power Room” of the Christian life is the place where we daily meet and commune with God.  It’s where we find strength and power to meet the challenges that await us. Why don’t we do that more often? Why, for many of us, in our private time of devotions we sort of “hit and miss,” with a greater emphasis on the “miss” than on the “hit?” Could it be that we do not sense our need of spending time alone with God each day?

The apostle Paul wrote, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (II Cor. 3:5). In other words, on our own, we cannot live the Christian life. We are powerless to be what God wants us to be and to live as God wants us to live. “Our competence comes from God.” That is why it’s important for us to make time in our busy schedules for time alone with God.

Horatio Bonar, a minister and poet who lived in the 1800s, knew this truth.  This is how he expressed it in one of his hymns:

  Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face; Here would I touch and handle things unseen;

  Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace, And all my weariness upon Thee lean.

  Here would I feed upon the bread of God, Here drink with Thee the royal wine of Heaven;

            Here would I lay aside each earthly load, Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

  I have no help but Thine; nor do I need Another arm save Thine to lean upon;

 It is enough, my Lord, enough indeed; My strength is in Thy might, Thy might alone.

Think about this: There is no demand made upon your life or mine which isn’t a demand upon the life of Christ in us. Only as we spend time alone with him, meditating upon the Word of God, bringing our requests in prayer, and receiving fresh strength can we be the kind of Christian God wants us.

Do you want to be effective in serving the Lord here at Crossroads Church? Do you want to be effective serving the Lord at school, in the neighborhood, and at work?  Do you want your energy and effort to make a difference in the lives of others for all eternity?  There is only one source of power and we will find it in the “Power Room” where we spend time with God.