Monday, February 24, 2014
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Some friends of ours were staying in a basement apartment, and they invited us to their place for dinner. So, here I was seated with my wife and our friends and suddenly the lights went out, and the skillet went out. Well, we thought about getting out the candles and having a romantic candlelight dinner. But we decided we should do something more practical-check the circuit breakers. And sure enough, the extra cooking had put an overload on a circuit that doesn't usually get that much activity. So, the circuit breaker did it's very important job. It stopped the flow of electricity so we would not melt down.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Circuit Breakers."
Our word for today from the Word of God is in Psalm 23:1-2. I think you'll recognize them. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Now, there is a simple truth in this old, familiar passage. There are times when the Shepherd makes you lie down so He can restore you and guide you and put you in a quiet place.
Reminds me of that little electrical shut down in the basement apartment. The circuit breaker shut us down so we wouldn't melt down. God does that with us sometimes when we're running on overload. In fact, maybe He's making you lie down right now. This is a loving thing our Shepherd does for us, but it doesn't always feel loving because He uses a variety of circuit breakers to interrupt the flow. Maybe one of them is at work in your life right now. Like a health issue that forces you to slow down, or at least a warning from a doctor. God may be using a financial circuit breaker to say, "Stop for a while!" It could be there are warning signs of trouble in your spouse, or maybe one of your children, or in some important relationship.
If you've been running at a high rate of speed, don't be surprised if there's something in your life that's almost forcing you to put on the brakes. Don't fight it! Get the message so God doesn't have to turn up the heat to get you to slow down. When you're running, it's easy to miss the voice of God trying to redirect us, trying to encourage us, convict us of a compromise. He wants your undivided attention for a little while, and He doesn't want you to run yourself right into the ground.
People who are overtired and overstressed make big mistakes, which cause major damage or major regrets. That thing that's slowing you down right now? Maybe it's a circuit breaker from God. So don't keep trying to force the current past it. Instead of being frustrated by it, maybe you should be thankful for it. Embrace this season. It's your loving Shepherd applying the brakes so you can refuel, so you can recover, so you can reconsider. He thinks you need rest more than you need to get everything done right now. He's making you lie down.
Well, we were cooking up a storm that night in that basement apartment, and we didn't know we were on overload until the circuit breaker shut us down. Maybe you're on overload and you don't even realize it. Well, your Savior loves you enough to protect you from melting down; by sometimes shutting you down, so don't keep pushing more voltage through. Would you let the Shepherd do what He's trying to do? He wants to make you lie down.