Day 22: Avoiding a Power Outage

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him. Mark 3:7–10

When he was about four or five years old, my little brother John got his first of many pet turtles, a little silver-dollar-sized one he named Myrtle. Unfortunately, Myrtle the Turtle was not long for this earth because a few mornings later, John came trudging up to the breakfast table with an expression of anguish and sadly announced that Myrtle was dead. Then he confessed he’d taken her out of her bowl the night before because he wanted to cuddle with her, but when he woke up, she wasn’t moving anymore. Of course, Mom pretended his tiny turtle died from mysterious causes and got him another one right away. She didn’t have the heart to tell him he’d accidentally smothered his first love to death. That’s basically the scene here in Mark chapter 3; so many people are clamoring to get close to Jesus because of His reputation as a miraculous healer, He’s in danger of being crushed!

It may sound innocuous, but one of the most potentially crushing demands of the Christian life is that somebody will always need something from you. Some people may even go so far as to demand for you to meet all their needs. But when we look at what the Bible teaches and demonstrates regarding human relationships, it’s clear what God calls us to is interdependency, not codependency. That is, to make Him the main source we draw from and encourage others to as well since our Creator Redeemer is the only One with inexhaustible resources. He’s the only One who has the capacity to be our emotional power grid! When we plug ourselves into anyone else or allow others to plug all of their emotional expectations into us, there’s bound to be a lost connection or even a complete blackout. We’ll end up smothered just like Myrtle, or, we might end up being the one who does the smothering!

However, when we learn to place the entirety of ourselves into God’s perfect custody, we can freely enjoy rich life with others because our desire for unconditional love and acceptance is lying appropriately at His feet, not theirs. On one hand, when God is our power source, we can expect an appropriate amount of emotional energy from others without demanding that they fill us all the way up. And on the other hand, we can give an appropriate amount, knowing that our ministry matters to others, but that it’s not all up to us to fill someone else’s emotional cup to the brim. In both ways, whether giving or taking, we are free to enjoy others instead of exploiting others.

• What human individual do you place the majority of your emotional needs on? Do you think some of what you’re expecting from them should actually come from Jesus?
• Who do you allow to smother you? How can you help this person see that the real way they are going to get filled up is through God—not you?
• How might your relationships change if you believed God was the ultimate power source in your-and-their lives?