120 MPH OF POWER
Valerie Rae Hanneman
July 2, 2004
Judges 14:6 “The Spirit of the LORD came upon him (Samson) in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.” (NIV)
Luke 10:19 “I have given you the power to trample on snakes and scorpions and to defeat the power of your enemy Satan. Nothing can harm you.” (CEV)
When I was 23 I bought a bright yellow Pontiac Firebird. It’s rear end was raised and it had fat, oversized back tires. Even when it was sitting parked at the curb you could tell that this baby was fast, that it was built for speed. In my 30 plus years of driving I have gotten three speeding tickets - all three of them were in that car - and I deserved each one of them. One night, way after midnight, I took my Firebird out to the country - where there was a lot of empty road and not many houses. I floored the accelerator - just to see what my baby could do. 70-80-90-100 mph - that car easily leapt to the challenge! Finally at 120 mph on the speedometer I couldn’t tell anymore how fast I was going. (The car may have been going faster - but 120 was as far as the speedometer went.) I loved it! I loved it so much that after we turned around to go back home - I did it again. 120 plus miles per hour. The world outside my window at we sped by at 120 mph was so different from the 40 mph world.
That was the only time I drove my car that fast. As I look back on that time - I wonder - why didn’t I do it again? Don’t get me wrong - I am older now and I have a much better understanding of how foolish and dangerous it was to do that. As a mother, I would freak if my children did what I did. But at the time - I was still young enough to not realize how fragile the thread of life really is and how easily it is cut. Why didn’t I do it again? It wasn’t because I didn’t like going that fast - I loved it! I loved seeing the white dashes in the road as a solid white line - I loved the trees flashing by my window and I loved the feeling of power under my control. It wasn’t because my car wasn’t capable of doing it again - it was very capable of it. Maybe it was because the safest time to go that fast was after midnight - early enough in the morning to ensure the roads were empty - and I preferred to be in my bed asleep. Maybe it was because I had to go way past the city - into the rural roads - and I didn’t want to drive that far. Maybe I intended to do it again - but my life got filled up by other things and I just never got around to it. For whatever reasons I had I just never did it again. Although I did drive my little car fast enough to earn three speeding tickets - none of them were because I was going 120 mph.
My bright yellow Firebird was a source of power for me back in those days - even if I chose not to fully utilize the power it made available to me. These days I have another source of power in my life. This source of power makes that Firebird look like an ameba. My source of power is Father God. He has promised to bring His power into my life. In Acts 1:8 He says, “And you will receive power...” That power is Holy Spirit Who came to live within me when I accepted a personal relationship with God. It is amazing to think that the same power that created the universe is within me. Just as I did with my car - there are times that I really access the power that is available to me through Holy Spirit. Let me tell you - 120 mph in my car was nothing compared to 120 mph on Holy Spirit’s power. Solid white lines and flashing trees can not compete with being on the field at Bulldog stadium during the Billy Graham Crusade and feeling the power of Holy Spirit move as hundred’s of souls come to Him in repentance. I still get goose bumps when I think of that!
Samson knew about accessing God’s power. He was walking along the road when he was unexpectedly confronted by a lion. Suddenly the Spirit of the LORD came upon him and when Holy Spirit filled Samson he tore that lion to shreds. Now personally I am okay with it if I never have to confront a lion and tear it up with my bare hands - but that same power that Holy Spirit filled Samson with is available to me. That same power - and even more. In Luke 10:19 we are told that we have the power available to defeat our enemy satan’s power. Oh, yeah, baby! I like that!
There is nothing that I have ever experienced in my life that compares to going 120 mph on Holy Spirit’s power. I absolutely love it! I love the closeness I experience with God, I love the joy that is mine as I fully surrender to His power. I just flat out love it. In spite of how much I love it - I don’t access it very often. I wonder why that is? It certainly isn’t because Holy Spirit is not capable of filling me with that much power - He is absolutely capable of it.. Maybe it is because in order to access His power - I have to be available to Him. When you think of it - it really isn’t a matter of when I choose to access His power but it is really a matter of being available to Him to be used by Him. So maybe I don’t often feel 120 mph of Holy Spirit’s power because I choose not to be available to Him. Maybe it is because I might have to go out of my way in order to access that amazing power - Holy Spirit might ask me to do something that isn’t convenient for me - and I choose not to go out of my way. But the most likely reason is that I simply let my life get filled up with things that just get in the way of Holy Spirit flexing His power in me. My family, my job - and yes - my church activities all keep me pretty busy and although I intend to fully receive Holy Spirit’s power - I simply never get around to it.
Just as the world was different when I was flying through it at 120 mph rather than at 40 mph, my life is different when I am on 120 mph of Holy Spirit’s power than when I am at 40 mph. The closeness I feel with God when I am fully surrendered and fully filled with Him is something that is beyond what I can describe. My life when it is filled with Holy Spirt’s 40 mph power is okay - and the occasional bursts of additional power is okay. It is okay - if that is what I want to settle for. But what if I don’t want to settle for a safe, mundane 40 mph of power? What if I want to live the excitement of 120 mph of Holy Spirit power in my life? What do I have to do?
First of all - I have to be available to Holy Spirit - not just when it is convenient for me. Then I have to be willing to be used and filled by Holy Spirit - even if it means going out of my way. But most important of all - I have to reduce the clutter of my life that keeps me too busy and too weighted down to be able to be filled with 120 mph power. If my desire is to have a life filled with Holy Spirit’s power, if I make myself available to Him, if I am willing to do what needs to be done and if I make the time for Him, then Holy Spirit is going to fill me with His 120 mph power.
Holy Spirit, clearing the clutter of our lives is probably the hardest thing to do. I don’t want to be so busy that I miss the opportunity to be filled with Your power. Show me how to reduce the clutter, to be more available, and be more willing to sacrifice my comfort for Your power in my life. I want for my life to be all about You.
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