Electricity

Several weeks ago, I was praying and asking God to use me as a conduit of His love to those who need to know it.  I didn't like the sound of the word "conduit", so I nerdily looked up synonyms.  The thesaurus offered me even less appropriate options, such as "ditch" and "gutter".  I decided maybe "conduit" wasn't so bad after all, so I did some nerdy research on it and learned:

• It's a tube used to protect and route electricity. (Yes, Lord, use me to protect and route Your love.)

• Metal conduit can be used to shield sensitive circuits from electromagnetic interference. (Use me to shield sensitive people from demonic interference.)

• It can be rigid or flexible. (Make me rigid when I need to be and flexible when I need to be.)

• Conduit may be installed underground between buildings, structures, or devices to allow installation of power and communication cables.(Use me to connect You to people for the purpose of sharing your communication and power.)

And then yesterday, I was sitting at the piano, and God started writing a song about being grounded in Him. I knew He was talking about electrical grounding, and I had only a vague notion of this term, so I nerdily looked it up.  This is what I learned about grounding:

• If there is a problem with the wiring, grounding provides a direct pathway to the ground and prevent power surges that can invite electrical hazards.(God is my safe place.  I can connect to Him in times of trouble.)

• In an electric circuit, there is an active wire which supplies the power, a neutral wire which carries that current back, and a ‘grounding wire’ which provides an additional path for electrical current to return safely to the ground without causing danger to anyone. (He is both my power source and my place of safety.)

• Grounding protects against electrical overload. It makes it easier to distribute the right amount of power at the right places.  (He gives me all the power I need, but He won't overload me.)

• When you do not ground your electrical system, you put your appliances and even your life at high risk.  An excessive amount of electricity may damage your appliances or even start a fire, putting your property and the life of your loved ones at risk. (I want God's power to start a fire in me, but I trust Him to ground me also, so that I and those around me aren't damaged).

• To check if the electrical system is grounded or not, check that your system has three wires, one of which will be a grounding wire. (God is three in one: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.)

Then last night at my Agape class, one of my fellow students gave me this prophetic word:

He sees you like a dynamo that is slowly turning and increasing in speed and power. He sees you increasing the energy produced for the Kingdom to a point where it will outgrow your ability to contain it. It will then spill out of you. The increase in energy will enable you to produce more and more. It’s actually better than a perpetual motion machine in that it doesn’t just maintain, but increases. It may be an outpouring of Jn 14: 12-14. Are you ready for it? He will not overwhelm you, but it will be more than you can do on your own strength, to rely more on Him.

I had no clue what a dynamo is, so you know what I did.  I researched it.  And this is what I learned:

• When the coil is stationary, no voltage is induced. But when the coil is rotated it experiences a changing magnetic field. This induces a voltage within the coil. (I don't produce anything useful if I am stagnant.)

• The spinning coil of the dynamo is connected to the circuit that it powers using a commutator, which is permanently attached to one end of the rotating coil, and the commutator rotates with the coil. (I must be attached to God and move with Him to produce power.)

• The commutator performs another very important function. It keeps the dynamo's generated voltage from alternating between positive and negative. It ensures that the voltage produced by the dynamo is no longer fluctuating between positive and negative, but is instead always positive. (Yes!!)

So I asked the Lord, "Why are you speaking to me in electrical terms? You know I know nothing about electricity.” He said, “If I spoke to you in terms you were familiar with, you wouldn't look them up and experience the wonder of discovery, like the excitement of a child learning something for the first time.”

Then He and I got busy working on that song He'd started the day before.  Here's how it's going so far: 

I wanna be a dynamo for You
Make me Your dynamo
Set me afire, electrify me
Make me your dynamo

Spin me around; rotate in sync with me.
Electrify me with Your kingdom power
'til I can't contain it anymore

Radiate from me positive energy
Build up in me Your currency
Let's make electricity

But keep me grounded in You
Be my source and my shield
Be my steady rock, my constant flame
Lord, keep me grounded in You.

Click on this link to hear the melody: Dynamo

P.S.--I thought I was done with this post, but a connection was made in my brain at 4:00 a.m. this morning, so I have to add on a little bit and change the song slightly.  When we were worshipping Sunday night at class, I had a vision of a rock with flames on it but it wasn't being burned or even charred. I didn't know what it meant, but I kept seeing it.  I asked the Holy Spirit what it was, but I didn't hear anything, so I forgot about it until the wee hours of this morning when I realized He was showing me a visual of all that He was saying to me about being on fire but remaining grounded.  The fire represents His power and passion that I want to burn in me, and the rock represents His safety and stability that won't let the fire damage me or others around me.