God of Power

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power."

1 Corinthians 4:20

I was about 19 years old, living at home with my parents who felt that I needed some direction for my life.

My father, who had recently attended a retreat sponsored by our church, decided that the young adult version of that same retreat would be just the thing I needed.

The retreat took place over a weekend. It was supposed to allow the attendees an opportunity to connect with God in a very deep way. I went and I had a nice time, although I completely missed the point of the weekend. I, however, didn't grasp this concept until later.

Because God is good, he gave me another opportunity. About one month later, I received a phone call from the gentleman leading the next upcoming retreat. He asked me if I would be willing to serve as part of the leadership team and give a message to the students in attendance. This was a bit strange, because I hadn't put my name down as wanting to serve.

Six months later, the weekend of the retreat arrived. I was nervous because my speech still was not ready. To be honest, I only had some vague outline as to what I had planned to say. I was toast.

Saturday night had been set aside as a time of prayer with the Lord. All attendees were taken into the chapel. As I was sitting there the Lord convicted my spirit of a secret sin which I was holding onto: pornography. I fell to my knees and confessed. I was feeling so guilty and condemned. Now, I give glory to God because He set me free by forgiving my sin and restoring me to Him. That night, I slept well. I wish I could report that during the night God had given me a vision about what I was to say in my speech, but I can't.

I was the final speaker on Sunday. Like every speaker before me, I was taken into a room where other leaders prayed over me prior to my message. As they prayed, I felt completely at peace and wonderfully alive.

I was then taken by one of the leaders to the hall just outside of the room where I would be giving my message when a third person passed by. The man who walked by us said to me, "Good luck, God's with you." To which I replied, "Thank you." At this point, the man who was escorting me turned. Wondering about what had just been said, he asked if we were speaking some sort of code. At first, the notion struck me as odd; however, I soon realized that we had not made the exchange in English!

Because of God, the message turned out well. Because of the Holy Spirit, my words had a far greater impact than they would have on their own. To this day, I have no idea what I said; however, I received many compliments on the message. Years later, I would learn that I had been filled and baptized by the Holy Spirit. Looking back, I know that my spirit was on fire! Does the Holy Spirit still operate in believers’ lives as He did in the first century church? Absolutely!

John Eldredge wrote, "Why would God give you a book of exceptions? This is how I used to relate to my people, but I don't do that anymore. What good would a book of exceptions do you? That's like giving you the owner's manual for a Dodge even though you drive a Mitsubishi. No, the Bible is a book of examples of what it looks like to walk with God."