The greatness of His power us-ward

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know…what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:18a; 19b

That snowy morning God spoke to me quite a bit about my part of our relationship and how to recognize looseness on my end of that connection with Him. But connections run two ways—He reminded me about His commitment to do His part, as well.

It would be absolutely impossible for us humans to be personally accountable if God refused to uphold His end of the connection. We could try—but we would fail again and again. But because God is God; because He is good; and because He is gracious, He provided His Son as an atonement for our sin so that through Jesus, we could be empowered to walk in newness of life and to receive the grace necessary to sustain a close connection with Him.

The apostle Paul wrote, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know…” In order to access anything, it is beneficial to know that it exists and is available. Someone may have set hundreds of thousands of dollars aside in an account for you, but if you don’t know about it, the money just sits there—unknown and unaccessed—while your financial needs pile up, unmet.

Along with other momentous truths, one thing that God wants you to know is this: that His power is surpassingly great toward you who believe. I like how the King James Version says it: “…that ye may know what is… the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe”. The exceeding greatness of His power is “us-ward”. In other words, you can read it this way: God has locked and loaded the exceeding greatness of His power me-ward—and He’s not afraid to use it!

All of “the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power” (Amplified) is focused on you, and God is more than willing to unload it on your behalf. He wants you to become so intimately knowledgeable about His willingness to use His power “you-ward” that it will be as natural for you to trust Him as it is to breathe.

Everything in your life; everything in your heart, mind, and personality; everything that has anything to do with you is something about which you can access the exceeding greatness of His power “you-ward”.  In fact, your end of the connection with the Lord can be made snug and secure only because His end of the connection provides the power to make it secure.

When you were little, you learned your ABC’s and math facts by repetition. You learned how to tie your shoes and ride a bike through trial and error—through practice—over time. You may have thought at first that “el-em-en-o-pee” was a big, fancy letter; you may have computed 2 + 3 to equal six every now and then; you may have hopelessly knotted your shoelaces a time or two; and you probably wiped out while learning to ride your bike a few times. But with every miss, you got up and tried it again. And eventually, you conquered.

Have you suffered a couple or so “misses” while seeking to receive from God? Take a lesson from “little you” and get up and keep on going. Don’t let your past failures—whether through misinterpretation, miscalculation, misunderstood instructions, or unbalanced attempts at moving ahead—steal from you the joy of your salvation. The Lord remains the same; His mercy endures forever; and His power will always be you-ward.

So get back up. Say those ABC’s. Calculate that math fact. Tie that shoe. Ride that bike. And trust God once again. He will make things clear; He will illumine your darkness; He will not fail.

And pray. Pray for the eyes of your heart to be enlightened to know—to really know—what is the surpassing greatness of the power of His connection “you-ward”. This is a prayer He delights in answering.

Dorothy

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21