Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Wii Resurrection

For our 4th anniversary (a couple weeks ago), we took a small vacation to a house on the lakeshore of Lake Michigan. We brought our Nintendo Wii along as part of our vacation experience. On the last day of our vacation, there was a thunderstorm that led to a power surge throughout the house. We had our Wii plugged directly into the wall outlet at the time of the power surge. An hour or two later, we attempted to turn on our Wii so that our son could play for the remaining time while we packed up our stuff. But the Wii would not turn on. In fact, the LED indicator was completely black. (The LED is usually red when the Wii is plugged in.)

I tried everything I could think of to get the Wii started. I unplugged the power cord from the wall, waited a few seconds, and then plugged it back in. -- No change. -- I tried unplugging all the cords from the Wii and then plugging them back in. -- No change. -- I tried plugging it into a different power outlet. -- No change. -- I tried wiggling the power cord around to check for broken wires. -- No change.

After a few more attempts to get the Wii's LED indicator to show some signs of life, I solemnly reported to my husband that our Wii was apparently fried from the power surge. He jokingly said that we should pray for it to work. Then, with some seriousness, he got up, laid hands on the power adapter, and commanded it to work in the name of Jesus. He said, "That's all I have faith to pray for," and then he came and sat by me.

I thought, "Well, why don't I give it a try?" And so I got up and laid my hands on the Wii console. I declared the truth that God wanted us to enjoy his creation and have fun, and I declared that a working Wii would allow us and our son to have an enjoyable close to our vacation. Then, I commanded the Wii to be fixed (specifically, for all the wires to be connected properly, for melted or shorted circuits to be restored, and for the electronics to operate in the way they were designed) in the name of Jesus. As I prayed, I felt the tingling sensation in my hands that often appears when I pray for the sick. Josh said that even he felt tingling in his hands as I prayed.

In faith, I immediately brought the Wii near the original power outlet it had been plugged into and plugged it in. The LED indicator immediately lighted up, I pressed the power button, and the Wii started up as it normally should.

Is this a case of Wii resurrection by the Spirit of God? I guess we can't be 100% sure, but I would not be surprised if it were. Besides, Jesus told us to "preach the gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15), and we know that all of creation waits for the restoration of all things (Romans 8:21). If part of our commission as brothers and sisters of Jesus is to bring God's kingdom to earth through our words and actions, thereby allowing God's will to be done here as it is in heaven, then I wouldn't be surprised if God's Spirit would help us restore broken electronics, hurting animals, violent weather, and sick people. This is a pretty wild and dramatic idea, but it's seeming more and more plausible to me every day.





1 comment:

  1. A friend of mine on facebook offered the following article to expand our understanding of what could have been going on with the Wii:

    Lightning strike... just replace adapter? - GameSpot Forums - Nintendo Wii
    www.gamespot.com


    And he also posted this testimonial:

    My Wii was just struck by lightning

    Postby SonnyBone on Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:03 pm

    OK, so maybe that's an exaggeration.

    I was playing Godfather and a huge lightning bolt exploded out of nowhere and the power went out. Sucks, too... cuz I hadn't saved in about an hour. UGH.

    But the power came back on a few minutes later and I noticed that the red light on the Wii didn't come back on. The PS3 standby light was on. The TV standby light was on. But not the Wii.

    I hit power.

    Didn't turn on.

    Unplugged it from the surge protector and tested it on another outlet. Nope. DEAD.

    I unplugged the AC adapter from the console and unplugged the sensor bar cable and component cable and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

    Plugged it all back up and BINGO BANGO back to Godfather!

    ReplyDelete