Holy Spirit Power

I have been reflecting on the following illustration for the last couple of months. It comes from Francis Chan’s book Forgotten God:

This may be a silly illustration, but if I told you I had an encounter with God where He entered my body and gave me supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn’t you expect to see and amazing improvement in my jump shot, my defense, and my speed on the court? After all, this is God we’re talking about. And if you saw no change in my athleticism, wouldn’t you question the validity of my “encounter”?

I love this image. If we, as believers, are filled with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit who caused Creation and raised Christ from the dead, why do we not see this in our lives?  Setting aside for now the idea of healings, deliverances, tongues, prophecy and all the other “power gifts” that get debated so often, consider for a moment His power in our attitude and behaviour.  I feel that as the Church, we spent too much time trying to manage our issues in our own strength rather than walking in His power.

God’s Word says:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (1 Tim 1:7)

Yet I see so many in the church marked by fear, broken relationships, and/or addictions. This is not because the Word is wrong, or the Spirit is not powerful… it’s because we spend too much time trying to overcome our issues by our own strength instead of passing control to Him and by faith cooperating with the Spirit as He works in us.

What should our lives look like?  If we have the Spirit in us…

• Shouldn’t Christians be marked by a boldness and confidence in God’s Plan than makes us stand out from the rest of the world?
• Shouldn’t we have a supernatural confidence and peace in the face of hardship?
• Shouldn’t we be the ones with the strong marriages and solid families?
• Shouldn’t we be known for our radical love and acceptance of people from all walks of life?
• Shouldn’t we be known by our ability to face our struggles and walk in victory?  (Not that we never struggle, but that our outlook is one of hope, and are daily making progress to overcome those issues?

If someone looked at your life would they see a life that demonstrates the Spirit’s power?