Continuously Connected
To get from А to Б here, most people use public transportation. The most popular modes are buses and trams. There are a few commuter train lines on the other side of town. But in the city center, there are also trolleybuses – these look just like regular buses, except that they’re connected to overhead electric wires by two trolley poles. Unlike trams, which have tracks to run on, trolleybuses have the freedom to drive wherever they want. But if they lose contact with their wires, they lose their source of power, slow down, and when the momentum runs out, they stop. Paul saw one by the side of the road a few weeks ago that had become disconnected – it couldn’t move until a utility vehicle pushed it back into position and it could be reconnected to the power again.
(note, even though this is a Nizhny Novgorod trolleybus stock photo, if you want to get an authentic idea of what we’re seeing, imagine all colors replaced with white and grey, to simulate ice and snow :))
We’re a bit like those trolleybuses, aren’t we? God has given us a tremendous amount of freedom in this world, to go where we like and do what we want. But in order to live the abundant and flourishing life that Father God intended for each of us, we have to stay continuously connected to Him, our one and only source of real power. How impotent and ineffective we are when we try to rely on anything or anyone else (especially ourselves)! Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life, not one among several alternatives. Even when we fully believe that, it’s so easy to think we can coast along for awhile, especially after a period of spiritual victory or fruitfulness. There’s a very real and strong temptation to camp out on the victories of the past, to be satisfied with this far and no further, or to let momentum carry us along. The only problem with that is that if we take that route, we’re eventually going to run out of momentum and find ourselves stranded at the side of the road.
To avoid getting lulled into that kind of thinking, we need to put ourselves into “strict training” as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 9 – daily living a disciplined life and saturating our minds with the life-giving word of God. God calls us ever forward, to lay down our lives, to take greater risks, to advance into new territory, to reach new places in the Spirit. We never “arrive” as long as we draw breath on this earth – God wants us to constantly grow in our faith and trust of Him. Motivated by His great love for each one of us, He unceasingly woos us forward out of our comfort zones. He continually transforms us “into His likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Let’s press in day-by-day, hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment, and stay continuously connected to God’s power. His power supply is never-ending and always available – the choice is up to us. He will always amaze us, according to His promise, as He makes our lives “brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18, The Message). Then we’ll have the ability to fulfill what He appointed us to do – to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last (John 15:16).
