POWER ENCOUNTER
The Apostle Paul said, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:4-5i
PERSUADED BY POWER
Paul was a power player. He didn’t show up trying to be cute or fancy in his words. Granted, Paul was an orator. Look at all of the books of the New Testament he wrote. As well, he was a persuader of men.ii
But, that wasn’t how Paul came onto the scene. Why is that? Well, Paul wasn’t brought onto the path of following Jesus by someone being slick with speech with him. He had a power encounter.iii The voice of the Lord broke into his heart. It shattered his world. He didn’t eat or drink for three days and couldn’t see, literally blinded by the light. This shook the man to his core, who before that was looking to put each and every Christian he could find in chains.iv
So, he brought to other people what he had experienced himself–the power of God. Have you ever had a power encounter with God that was difficult to put into words? This was Paul. It’s not that he couldn’t speak well; it was that what he experienced was beyond words. So, he simply allowed the Holy Spirit to show up and rock everyone else’s world, just like He had Paul’s.
Paul was in the realm beyond ordinary speech and human wisdom. When you get into the realm beyond words, this is where deep calls to deep. Psalm 42:7 says, “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”
When Paul encountered Jesus on the way to Damascus in Acts 9, the Lord spoke directly to the depth of his soul. It was so powerful that he didn’t eat or drink. You know there is something up when you won’t even drink water for three days. That wasn’t natural; it was supernatural.v
But it wasn’t crazy, it was the all-powerful Lord of Lord and King of Kings that broke into Paul’s walk toward Damascus in such a way that altered the state of all of the followers of the Way on that day.
Paul turned from the one who was persecuting the Jews following the Way of Christ to persuading men and women everywhere he went to believe on Christ.
LIGHT FROM LIFE
Here is a thought to ponder–I cannot go beyond my own depth of knowledge and experience. If I have not encountered the power of God in such a profound way that impacts how I think and see the world, I cannot expect other people to act any differently beyond their own experiences with God. But, when I do have the fullness of his life and power in me, I can shine bright.
The Apostle John said (speaking of Jesus), “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”vi The Lord calls us to be light as well.vii But, don’t “try to be light.” Get full of Jesus. Allow the fullness of His Spirit to give you the life he has prepared for you. The abundant life. Out of that life–light shines.
GRIT OR GRACE?
Paul was going one way, and Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks. People talk a lot about grit. Grit is defined as “firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.”viii That sounds pretty strong.
But, what if you are going in the wrong direction? Paul had grit no doubt, but he was persecuting the Lord Himself. When the Lord calls us to Himself and gives us a power encounter with Him, he doesn’t give us a dose of grit–He gives us the fullness of His grace.
Here is the difference–grit says I can push on when it is tough–I can do it in my own strength. Grace on the other hand says, this is way beyond my capacity. I can’t manage it. It’s too much. And we surrender ourselves to the Lord and allow His grace to fill that space. Grace comes in our area of weakness, and the beauty of that grace is that his strength is perfected in our weakness.
God’s power isn’t perfected in our grit. It’s in our weakness. If I am not experiencing the power of God daily, am I persisting in my own grit instead of in His grace?
Moses is a tragic example of grit over grace at the end of his leadership. Moses was a man of grit–no doubt. But, when the Lord told him to speak to the rock, he struck it instead.ix The Lord was working to move Moses into a new grace, but he stuck it out of his own grit. As a matter of fact, he hit the rock not only once, but twice.
Why do we keep doing the same things in our own way? Well, for Moses, hitting the rock with his staff worked.x This was the second encounter of causing water to come out of the rock. The challenge with grit is that it does work. When you know how to get something done by pushing through, that’s a real strength. But, just like Paul, we need to be sure that we are headed in the right direction–for the Lord and not our own way.
Jesus said, if you are not for me you are against me (Matthew 12:30). We have to be people yielded to His grace, which may be at the expense of my own grit. Meekness isn’t weakness; it’s the power of God under control of the Holy Spirit.
GRACE PERFECTED
And God’s power isn’t perfected in our strength; it’s perfected in our weakness.xi God’s power flows in the form of grace. Grace for the day. Grace on the daily. Grace on the regular. It is grace in any and every space that we may need it. Grace to hear and obey. Grace for the here and now. It is the power to act, to allow God’s miraculous voice to flow through us into dry and dusty situations. It is by the word of the Lord that springs of living water come forth.
WRAP UP
Life is hard. Expected the unexpected. And when you do, find yourself in a situation you didn’t expect. Lean into the grace of God. Ask the Lord for a fresh anointing of His Spirit to fill your mind and heart. Ask him to allow you to hear His voice. Just like Paul did on the way to Damascus. That encountered changed the course of Christianity.
And the Lord’s power can change the course of our lives as well.
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture references come from the New King James Version unless noted differently.
ii Acts 18:4, Acts 19:8
iii Acts 9:3-9
iv Acts 9:1-2
v The Bible doesn’t say that he fasted food and water on purpose; it just says that he didn’t eat or drink for three days. There was no urging of anyone trying to get him to eat or drink that is mentioned. In Exodus 34, Moses has an encounter with the Lord where he doesn’t eat or drink for 40 days (v. 28). 40 days would be humanly impossible to not have any water. So, how would Moses do that? It was supernatural power of God. It was a miracle, defying the laws of nature.
vi John 1:4
vii Matthew 5:13-16
viii Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grit.
ix Numbers 20:1-13
x In Exodus 17:1-7, Moses is told by the Lord to strike the rock so that water would come out. This was a miraculous moment where God showed up. Later in Numbers 20:1-13, the people are again without water. This was a moment of grace over grit. God told Moses to take his staff with him, but He told him to speak to the rock. Psalm 29 says that “the voice of the LORD breaks the cedars.” The Lord was calling Moses to speak his words to the rock so that the voice of the Lord could be heard. What a moment of magnificence, but he went with what he knew. May God grant us the grace to step into newness of life, even if it is outside of what we know.
xi 2 Corinthians 12:9
