For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind – 2 Timothy 1:7
Kelly softly elbowed her co-worker, whose nodding off had escalated into snoring. It made those seated in the conference room look up from the newspapers and crossword puzzles that had provided a much-needed distraction from the yearly, mandatory video presentation on corporate outages. Kelly, too, sought an escape as she retrieved her phone and opened the notes from Sunday’s sermon—a message focused on handling life’s disruptions through God’s continuous power. The last sentence included the title, “Handling Outages,” prompting her to smile, as it suited this exact moment perfectly.
Disruptions happen when operations or resources are suddenly cut off—like when your car stalls while driving, or a bill arrives with a due date you cannot afford. These life “outages” can leave people feeling powerless and anxious, often tempting them to make unsound decisions. But that doesn’t have to be our reality as Christians. Scripture assures us of a divine power source: a God who never experiences an outage. Isaiah 40:29 promises this exact strength: “He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
When an untimely disruption occurs, it’s easy to feel unrest. That makes it imperative to remain calm, pause, and take a deep breath. The outage may have shaken us, but let’s make certain it doesn’t impact our promise of a sound mind.