“I Left it Unplugged”
A few years ago, my orthodontist encouraged me to spend money on an electric toothbrush to help me get to the back of my teeth. Now this blog is not about my brushing habits but something that happened related to that electronic toothbrush.
One day I had to unplug the charger to the toothbrush to plug in my beard trimmers. After I finished shaving, I unplugged the clippers, but I failed to plug back in the plug to the charger for my toothbrush. After several days of brushing my teeth I noticed that the power and speed were not the same. I began to check the brush and check the case to see if it is malfunctioning. I then noticed that I left the charger unplugged. I learned several lessons from that experience.
(1) You need a charger to keep going. A charger gets its power from the plug and then gives power to the appliance. If the charger is not charged, then the appliance will not stay charged up. One is dependent upon the other. If you are going to keep going in life you must stay connected to the charger and the charger must stay plugged in. I could spend a lot of time on what causes us to be disconnected but whatever has caused you to be disconnected you need to make a commitment to plug back in and get charged up. For some people the charger could be many different things but as for me, my charger is the Word and the source to the charger is God the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.
(2) There is not an immediate power outage. As I stated earlier, the brush still worked even when the charger was not plugged in. We can operate on residual power…but it won’t last long. Residual power is the power from the last charge. That residual power diminishes if it is not recharged. The brush worked fine at the beginning, but the more and more I used it, it became weaker and weaker. If you are unplugged and not charged up, the more you are used, the weaker and more sluggish you will become. I even noticed too that even if you are not used and you sit on the shelf, off of the charger, you will still run down and lose power. Be careful when you are idle and not being charged up. You can still lose power. I have found out that when people tell me, “Pastor, I need a break”, that break turns into a resignation from service.
(3) The brush didn’t know or acknowledge that it was disconnected. The brush was on the charger, but because the charger was disconnected, the light was not on and there was no verbal warning that there was no power. When the brush is placed on the charger there is a light that lets you know it is charging and it is charged. There is not a sound that lets me know…but a light. That light in my life is the Light of the World and that is Christ. When you are charging and charged, someone will be able to see the light and know you are connected to the source.
I said all of this to say that we must make sure we are connected to the charger that is connected to the power source. In life and in ministry we can lose effectiveness and power when we are being charged by a powerless charger. Make sure your light is on and that you are charging up and not unplugged!
God Bless,
Michael O. Oyedokun II