As summer was winding down, hubby and I noticed battery pack generators for sale at Costco. That’s a great idea! We should get one for when the power goes out.
We triumphantly toted our battery pack generator home … and promptly stuck it in the closet. No need to bother charging it up right away. There are so many other important things we need to do right now. Besides, it’s not winter yet. We’ve got plenty of time.
Then the power went out.
There was no storm. It wasn’t winter yet. We weren’t expecting it.
And the battery pack generator was sitting in the closet, still not fully charged up. It had about 20% power, from when it came out of the box.
To add to this, we had been planning to get a special outlet where we could swap the fireplace fan from the house power to generator power … in the event of a power outage just such as this. Having a fireplace is all fine and good for heating your home … but when the power goes out (and hence the blower stops working) there is no way to blow the hot air out into the room. All the heat stays trapped in the firebox.
We still lit a fire in the fireplace during the power outage, and it did keep our living room warm. But with all the heat trapped behind the glass door of the firebox we were a bit worried it might not be the safest … especially since the metal sheeting around the fireplace-insert began bowing outward ever-so-slightly because of the heat which was trapped behind it.
Less than two weeks later … the power went out again!
This time we were prepared!
We had fully charged the battery pack generator! And not only that, our son had come over and helped hubby install the special outlet for swapping the fireplace fan to generator.
Here you can see what the special outlet looks like. (hubby has since put a nice cover over it)
And here you can see the special generator outlet is just around the corner from the fireplace.
The power outage this time around was on a dark blustery rainy evening. Hubby and I both were out and about. It was major drama trying to get home. All the traffic lights were out of power, all the street lights were out of power, it was pitch dark and traffic was a mess!
It “just so happened” that our daughter had had a potluck at her work that day. Her coworkers had brought enormous dishes of yummy food for the potluck. Afterwards, there were lots of leftovers! Everyone was encouraged to fill plates and take the leftovers home! So, our daughter filled a couple of plates with leftovers … and brought them over to our house after work to share them with us. Is that not amazing!
Of course, hubby and I weren’t home yet. And the power was out. The house was dark and cold. The fridge had no power.
So, our daughter pulled out the battery pack generator. Hallelujah it was charged up! She plugged in the floor lamp in the living room … and voila! … instant light. The uneasy feeling that comes from being in the middle of a power outage instantly vanished just by having a “normal” light on. Everything suddenly felt “normal” again.
She got a fire going in the fireplace. And swapped the fireplace fan over to generator. Hallelujah we had the special outlet installed! And Hallelujah the battery pack was charged up!
By the time hubby and I got home everything was warm and cozy. The floor lamp provided the perfect amount of light. The fireplace was cranking out heat just like always. Thanks to the battery pack being charged up!
I didn’t even have to worry about trying to fix something for dinner, because our daughter had brought plates of leftovers from her work potluck. God is amazing how he provides exactly what we need, exactly when we need it!
Of course we couldn’t use any appliances to warm dinner up … so here you can see hubby warming up our dinner via the warmth of the fireplace. Haha!
We enjoyed a delicious dinner that evening with our daughter … with light (thanks to the battery pack being charged up) and cozy warmth from the fireplace (thanks to the battery pack being charged up).
The spiritual application in all this is this: There will be times and seasons in our life when “the power goes out” (so to speak). Hard things happen. Painful things happen. It feels like “the lights have gone out” in our life.
We can’t think. We can’t breathe, hardly.
We can’t pray. There’s just nothing there.
We can’t sing in church. We just can’t.
This is why it’s important to make sure our spiritual “battery pack” is charged up! Because we never know when “the power is going to go out.”
How do we “charge up” our spiritual “battery pack”??
What does this look like?? What does this even mean??
We “charge up” our spiritual “battery pack” by filling our soul with Scripture. We can do this by regularly reading Scripture each day. As we read certain passages over and over throughout the months and years, these passages will automatically become engrained in our mind … simply through repetition.
We can “charge up” our spiritual “battery pack” by listening to songs which are Scripture set to music. This is how I personally “charge up” most often. I am constantly listening to music which is basically just Scripture. The worship songs we sing in church … I fill my playlist with these songs.
Whatever I’m doing around the house, I’m listening to worship songs. As I’m driving around town running errands, I’m listening to worship songs. Constantly, all day long, I’m “charging up” my spiritual “battery pack” with the truths of Scripture.
We can “charge up” our spiritual “battery pack” by journalling – writing down the truths God is teaching us from Scripture.
We can “charge up” our soul’s “battery pack” by going through Bible studies – either personally or with a group.
We can “charge up” our soul’s “battery pack” by posting Scripture verses in prominent places where we will see them regularly – on our bathroom mirror, on the fridge, etc. …
When “the power goes out” in life, and we feel as if everything in our world has been plunged into darkness … it’s the truths of Scripture which will “light” the way for us. It’s the truths of Scripture which will keep our soul warm.
It’s the truths of Scripture which will remind us who our God is!
It’s the truths of Scripture which will give us peace!
It’s the truths of Scripture which will anchor us.
Scripture is how we “charge up” our soul’s “battery pack.” Scripture will get us through when “the power goes out.”
