Romans 4.21 21 …being
fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. – St. Paul
‘The’ is a determiner:
the dog, the cat, the car, the house. When we’re talking about our
house, we refer to it as the house;
and the the helps us understand whose
house it is, or why the house is more
important or meaningful than another house. We typically want to use the word, the, to describe God’s power, as in: God
has the power to do…
Today, however, I found that God’s power is not referred
to by St. Paul as the power. In
Romans 4, Paul explained why Abraham was credited (by God) with righteousness:
Abraham was fully persuaded that God had
power to do what He had promised. Not the
power, but power. Nothing else in all creation has power as God does. God’s
power is power, not the power as if
it was available to anyone else in creation.
Why is that important? It’s important because God’s power
is that which builds our faith. If it was the
power, we’d place our faith in something outside of God. But because it is God,
and God has power, it is power that is only found in God.
God has power to make a ninety-year-old woman get
pregnant by a ninety-nine year-old man. Abraham believed that. God has power to
impregnate barren wombs. When we say, God has the power, we grammatically relegate power by a determiner. God is not like us, and no one but God has
power. We think we do. We crave it as if it was something of value. But we have
no power. At least none as God has. God’s power is unique.
Here is the kicker: Abraham was fully persuaded by God’s
power. Abraham had faith in God because of God’s power. Abraham was a recipient
of God’s power. If we need a determiner,
it’s God’s power. There’s no other
power floating around out there to which we have access – God’s power is
exclusive to Him. And the only faith worth having is in a God with power.
So, who are we going to believe? Fallen man? Our parents?
Society? In whom are we fully persuaded? Where do we find accreditation of
righteousness? Like old Abe, I want to be fully persuaded that God has power to
do what He has promised. These words become more important every day I live.
God has power to make my life different. The reward of
life is not Heaven, but God. And God desires to help me believe that. And in
what I face on earth, I do being fully persuaded that God has power to make it
happen – whatever ‘it’ is… My righteousness in not in God’s power but in God
who has power to affect the miraculous in, and through, me.
Father, do Your
work in me today. Build my persuasion. Build my faith. You have power to make
it all happen. To You be glory! Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment