The Strength I Need

12.04.14

Ephesians 3.18-19 18 …may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. St. Paul to the Ephesian Church (ESV)

I have walked with the Lord for thirty plus years now. I have heard the prayers of saints asking God for power and strength. I know, or at least I think I know, why they/we pray such prayers: they/we hate the battle with sin and ineffectiveness in their/our lives and they/we want – sometimes desperately – to overcome their/our shortcomings to live more effectively, holy, and more in line with what they/we believe. That seems to be what I have seen.

The problem with power is our perception of what it is and what it can to for us (and regrettably, to us). Power and strength are somewhat synonymous and our quest for it – either overt or not – is sometimes misguided: we think it’s up to us to do something. And so, we want power because we think we know how our lives will be different with it, rather than without it. Enter the Apostle Paul, and his letter to the Ephesian Church.

Paul prayed for the Ephesians to have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. That is the kind of strength or power we need. We don’t need the strength or power to handle it on our own; we need the strength and power to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge in order to be filled with all the fullness of God. If any of us need anything in life at all: it’s this!

Personally, I have prayed for strength and power; God told this imminent apostle, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (Cf. 2 Corinthians 12.8) Who am I to think that I could handle what was denied to Paul? I need to take a lesson from what he shared with the Corinthian and Ephesian churches: it is far better to be weak in Christ than strong in myself. I’m learning that if I want strength and power it’s only found in knowing Jesus’ love more and more and more.

The strength I need is trusting in and knowing the love of Christ in the midst of life with all its ups and downs. I don’t need strength to change anything; I need strength to know all of Him I can, and to expect in the midst of that knowing: to be filled with all the fullness of God. The fullness of God can withstand anything this life can throw at me.

Father, in my desperate attempts to change my circumstances and situations, may I have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fullness of You. That sounds like a worthy prayer. Amen.