Intrinsic or Extrinsic Power?

With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen. 

(Ephesians 3:20-21 ERV)

What "power" do you possess - or maybe the best question is what "power" do you exhibit in your life? Back some years ago, the concept of "super-heroes" hit the television and big screen audiences everywhere. The "super-men" and "super-women" of these shows were able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, stop supersonic aircraft with the breath from their mouth, and somehow rescue every damsel in distress. In real life, rarely do we see this type of "power", nor do we this consistent intervention "just in the nick of time" into the situations where harm is about to wreak havoc in the lives of people. In real life, the "power" we rely upon is usually either intrinsic (stemming from within us) or extrinsic (someone else doing it for us). For believers, the power is both - intrinsic and extrinsic!

Christ "indwells" us - making his power our power. That means nothing comes against us that we don't have the "intrinsic" power to deal with. It also means there is nothing "extrinsic" with any greater power! This may not seem all that significant until we truthfully evaluate just which power "source" we are tapped into most of the time. The monsoons have arrived in Arizona, so power outages will abound for some due to tripped breakers at relay stations, downed power poles, and the like. When these "interruptions" in electrical power come upon us, we "feel" it - because the hot, hot air of the desert has no way of being cooled without that power. There are no real "deterrents" to the downed poles - for the extrinsic power of the high winds will have their way no matter how carefully we think we have planned.

The truth is evident - sometimes the extrinsic powers are not easily deterred. The one thing we can do to guard against their dangers is to have the right source of power intrinsically! If Christ is our main source of power - not our own will or determined focus - we have more power internally than anything that comes against us externally (even when it is trying to get on the inside of us). I have to tell on my daughter here - for the lightening and thunder still make her want her mommy a little bit! The "anger" or "fury" of the extrinsic forces are capable of some destruction, but as long as the right "force" is at work within us, the "damage" is extremely minimal! It isn't about what is coming against us as much as who it is that indwells us.  Just sayin!