The power is in your hands
One of my guilty pleasures is to watch ‘Take me out’. I sit there with a cheesy grin on my face as the single men try to impress the row of women. If the lucky man gets through to the final round, host Paddy Guinness says to him ‘the power is in your hands’. This means he can eliminate the women he does not want to go out with. It’s all very silly, but I must confess to finding it most amusing!
I like the idea of having ‘power’, it releases a kind of energy and motivation to make things happen. Of course, there is a negative side to power, which can lead to control or worse still, abuse. What I’m ‘liking’ is positive power that does good.
In the Bible God’s wisdom can be seen all over the place, and in particular, the book of Proverbs. I read these verses about power recently...
“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’ - when you already have it with you.”
We have the power to do people good or bad. God encourages us that when faced with a decision to help someone then we should choose to do them good.
It goes on to say that if we have the means and resources to help others then we should do that too. I don’t think it means we have to fix the whole situation, that may be impossible, but rather be willing to help when we can, with what we have. I like this kind of power, as it does people good!
Over the next week be aware of people and attentive to the voice of God, and not Paddy Guinness! He might just say to you ‘the power is in your hands’...
God bless you!
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader