Fiber for the Soul The Energy Factor June 2006

A person’s basic needs are for food, clothing, and shelter. And, with a roof that doesn’t leak, and cupboards filled, why worry. Worry depletes our energy and ability to think clearly; and is the root of many ills of society today. A documentary I watched many times this last year is the story of Dick Proenekke, who lived alone in Alaska for 30 years. His inspirational story, Alone in the Wilderness, was broadcast on PBS in Seattle, and exemplified the type of energy that comes from hard work and vision. In 1968 at the age of 51, he moved to the Lake Clark region of Alaska and built a log cabin by himself. He said he wanted to find out if he could do things beyond his experience that he didn’t know he could do. In the cold winters, he could walk for miles with snowshoes in minus 45-degree temperatures, and be comfortable if the wind didn’t blow. This type of energy is attractive for it brings satisfaction such as when he finished his cabin, and fireplace. With Dick, he said that too many people work on parts of things, but doing a job to completion satisfies him. Too often in our work lives, people expect much of us, or we may expect too much of ourselves. That’s when our energy level is depleted, satisfaction is elusive, and we suffer burnout. We need new Energy. I am reading the book of Philippians and found God’s Energy Factor. A sentence in the second chapter says that we should work out our salvation, and do it with reverence and without complaint. It seems that many people don’t understand the balance between work in our own strength, and work in God’s strength. I know one missionary who stayed on the foreign field too long because he thought the work couldn’t go on with him. He soon found out that his efforts amounted to nothing. Then he and his wife took the necessary furlough to stop worrying and recover clear thinking and the desire to do what God wants them to do through them. Times when we think we fail are really those times when God is shining at his best, for he works through us at our worst. In that regard, I am reminded of a verse in Hebrews 11, "out of weakness we are made strong." Also in the second chapter of Philippians, we’re asked to do things without complaint, for when we do our light shines brighter among those whose light flickers in darkness. God’s Energy Factor is like the Sunday School song I used to sing, "This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine." A friend of Jesus, Gary Kallio

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