What do you think of when you hear the word “power?”
I think of The World’s Strongest Man competition! Massive men compete in events that include dragging a thirty-ton fire truck by the sheer energy of their bulging muscles. Now that’s power!
I think of dynamite! The little stick measures just a foot long and an inch and a half in diameter. It could pass for a racer’s baton, but one stick can punch a hole in a brick wall large enough to drive a car through. Now that’s power!
I think of diesel locomotives! Three locomotives harnessed together can pull one hundred box cars loaded with imposing weights. Now that’s power!
I think of the big 16” guns of the Battleship Missouri! One of those cannons can hurl a 2,500-pound artillery shell over twenty miles. Think about it; that is like tossing a Volkswagen across the Grand Canyon. Now that’s power!
As impressive as those displays of strength, God's power is greater! It's resurrection power! And the Apostle Paul tells us it is a power God unleashes in our lives. Just read his prayer for the Ephesian believers:
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:15-23 NIV)
Raising Christ from the dead . . . now that’s power!
- God’s power makes the World’s Strongest Man look like a 98-pound weakling.
- God’s power makes dynamite look like a firecracker.
- God’s power makes a diesel locomotive look like a model train.
- God’s power makes the Missouri’s cannons look like a popgun.
And the best thing about God’s power . . . it is for us who believe. Reread Paul’s prayer! The power that raised Jesus is God's power for you: power to resist temptation; power to love the unlovable; power to forgive the hurt; power to be patient; power to press on when the road is uphill and the path is uncharted.
So why not utilize it? Stop right now. Go to the Lord and ask him to pour out his power for your need. Now that’s power!