Because we humans are needy, perpetually requiring help to navigate life and the responsibilities that it hands us, the empowerment we seek can take on many forms.
I don't know about you, but too often I feel like I'm navigating
life on my own. I take comfort in Jesus' words, "No, I will not abandon
you as orphans." (John 14:18)
I'm encouraged that he said, "I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy
Spirit, who leads into all truth."
But though I believe what Jesus said, I still need to know how that plays out practically in life. I want to know how he's leading me. He does so in a lot of ways - here are seven.
1. Empowerment = Vision
You
may have sensed a call to serve God, for example, but feeling
dispirited along the way, you may have lost your desire to continue. For you,
empowerment may look like a bigger picture of where God is taking you - a
vision. Such a vision answers the question "Why?" Without it, you can
lose hope and become depressed.
2. Empowerment = Guidance
Having set your
feet on the path, you may feel confused about direction. You may
wonder if perhaps you've wandered off the path along the way. Perhaps
you have a complicated decision to make. You need guidance. You're
asking questions and not coming up with answers. Questions like: "Am I
wasting my time
in this role that I have agreed to fulfill?" "How much longer do I keep
doing this?" "Am I working with the right people?" For you, empowerment
may be a sense of peace about a decision you need to make.
3. Empowerment = Spiritual Gifts
We often think
about divine empowerment in terms spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12,
Ephesians 4, and Romans 12 describe the many different gifts that God
gives to his children. He knew that we'd need equipping if we were to be
able to take on the "spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places." (Ephesians 6:12) But even these lists are incomplete. For
example, we are all called to pray, but some people have the gift of
intercession. God gives them something that makes it easy and natural to
want to pray and to pray effectively.
4. Empowerment = Anointing
And the gifts
themselves may take on greater specificity or nuance. For example, God
may give you the gift of healing, but you may find that you are
particularly motivated and effective when you pray for a certain kind of
disease. Some people call this an "anointing." Whatever it is, it's God
working through you in a specific way.
5. Empowerment = Weakness
For others of us, empowerment will work not in an area of strength, but in a place where we feel weak. For example, a
young person struggling with discipline may find that the Spirit of Truth makes it easier to do the
hard things he wanted to set aside. Whereas in the past he may have felt a sense of
complacency or an inability to commit, God may quicken his spirit so
that he feels a greater urgency about getting a particular task done. He
may find it easier to commit and may feel empowered to throw himself at it
in ways that surprise himself and others.
6. Empowerment = Authority
Empowerment
finds its manifestation in a number of ways that are subtle. Jesus
didn't give his disciples spiritual gifts, but he did assign them
impossible tasks and give them the authority they needed to complete
them. You as a follower of Jesus have that same authority. You may
discover that you are empowered to do miraculous things as you step out
in faith and use it.
7. Empowerment = Identity
Ultimately our first and greatest source of
empowerment is knowing who we are. When Jesus was being put through the
spiritual gauntlet by the devil, he found himself tested about who who
he was and what God had promised. What a marvelous thing it is to know
who God made you to be, to know that he loves you no matter what. That
is spiritual empowerment of the highest order.
No comments:
Post a Comment