The Power is Waiting
Living for God requires power. Anyone setting out to serve God in this present world will soon come to realize that they have gone to war. Everything about living in this world fights against God and His purposes.
The “world” is more than simply the planet upon which we live. It is more than just the sum total of people and nations who live here. It is a way of thinking and living designed to deceive and rule over mankind, to blind them to God’s loving plan.
This “world” system that dominates life on our planet has a “god.” 2 Cor. 4:4, 1 John 5:19, Eph. 2:2. We know him as Satan. He was created to serve God’s loving purpose, but he rebelled and led others to join in his rebellion. Rev. 12:3-4, 9. He is the “designer” of the system devoted to keeping mankind in a state of spiritual blindness.
The oft-quoted scripture in Eph. 6:12 reminds us that the true government of this world system is the unseen kingdom of Satan and his evil forces. Thus, Paul writes, “… our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
This present world includes many nations, many people-groups, each with its own way of thinking and living. We call this “culture.” Human culture seeks to define such things as who we are, why we’re here, how we should live, and so forth. It involves philosophy and religion, but also everyday life.
Those who would serve God will quickly find themselves “swimming up-stream” against both human culture and the unseen spiritual kingdom ever at work to deceive. Yes, God has indeed had His influence in the world and its culture but the trend in general is away from Him as men choose darkness rather than light. 2 Tim. 3:13, Rom. 1:18-32.
Jesus spoke of the end of the age and the time of His coming as being as it was in the days of Noah. Matt. 24:37-39. So, how was it? Apart from a few who still served God and listened to Him the rest of humanity had so stubbornly chosen their own way that they had lost their ability to hear His voice. Of course, God was faithful to those who did listen and rescued them before judgment came. The rest perished. Our world is heading down the same road – and the same God will still be faithful to His own! And this is the world in which we are called to live for Him.
If the only resistance to living for God came from the “world” and the devil it would be enough of a challenge. But the greatest challenge comes not from without but from within. We were all born into the human family with what we know as “human nature.” Our first parents made a deliberate choice to agree with Satan and join in his rebellion.
As a result, their very “life force” was corrupted by the rebellious nature of Satan himself, and that is what has been passed down to us all. Listen to Paul the apostle’s sobering words in Rom. 8:7-8, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” The word “flesh” there refers to what we call “human nature.”
Let that sink in! It is totally impossible for anyone relying on natural human ability to serve and please God. Impossible! Serving God requires power; at our best we don’t have it; sounds like a pretty hopeless situation, doesn’t it! And it is – apart from God. Rom. 2:1-10.
Think of the power it took for Jesus to do what He did! He had been there in the beginning with His Father. It was through Him that everything had been created. John 1:1-3. But love brought Jesus from heaven’s glory to an earthly life. Phil. 2:6-8. He faced real temptation – and received divine strength through earnest prayer. Heb. 2:14-18, 5:7-8.
He willingly laid down His life because of our sin (yours and mine). He embraced our guilt. He died the death we deserved. And they laid His broken body in a borrowed grave. It sure looked like a terrible defeat, a hopeless situation. No earthly power could possibly make a difference.
But God! Those are powerful words! Even with all the forces of hell arrayed against God’s purpose and plan Jesus came forth from that tomb on the third day. Death itself was defeated. The very guilt of sin was left in that tomb. Think about that! A door of hope was opened that Satan himself has no power to close.
And the life Jesus had when He rose from that grave is totally unlike the life he had received from Adam’s race when He was born in Bethlehem. In fact, it was God’s own life, a life free from sin, incapable of dying! That is the life that God longs to share with all who willingly, from their hearts, trust in His Son as both Savior and Lord. Have you?
Paul had come to know the Lord, and he longed to share the amazing things that he had been shown about God’s power and plan. Consider his words in Eph 1:18-21 – “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.”
So, it is not just about the awesome power that brought Jesus out of that tomb. He wants us to know that the same “incomparably great power” is also “for us who believe”! How about that!
So here we are, with no natural power to serve God, but with a promise that God’s power is “for us.” How does that work exactly? How do we get that power? How can it make an actual difference in our daily lives? Good question!
Many people, when they speak about the “power of God,” are thinking mainly about something that is openly supernatural. They think of “the day of Pentecost” (Acts 2). They think of special “outpourings of divine power” resulting in people being healed or raised from the dead. They imagine God coming on the scene with wonderful sensations of joy, with “chills” running up and down their spines.
Well, God can indeed do anything He wants when it fits in with His purpose. But what we truly need goes far beyond “signs and wonders” and feelings. What we really need is simply the power to live out His life and character in our everyday lives! And He has given us His Spirit to make that possible.
God seeks to produce what He calls “fruit” in the lives of His people. Fruit is the product of life: life in; fruit out. Read the words of Jesus in John 15:1-8. But what is the “fruit” God seeks?
Paul tells us in Gal. 5:22-23 – “… “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Every day we all make choices as to how we act and react to the things that happen to us. The reality is that the power I need is not the power to raise the dead. I need the power to be patient, to be kind, to be gentle, to exercise self-control. How about you?
How sad it is that so many are focused on “signs and wonders” instead of the things God really cares about. Maybe, just maybe, if we learned more about the “fruit,” God might be able to use us in these other ways as it fits His purpose. God sometimes does indeed do something miraculous as a witness to the world, but the greatest witness needed is for the world to see His loving character in those who follow Him. Guess what! We need power we don’t have naturally for that to happen.
Paul understood that. He prayed most earnestly that other believers would understand as well. What a powerful prayer we read in Eph. 3:16-19. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Does our Heavenly Father have what we need? Of course He does! Does He care? Of course! “Love that surpasses knowledge” sounds pretty wonderful to me!
What do we need? To be strengthened “with power.” Where? In our “inner being.” In other words, I need strength that comes from the inside, not just rules that come from the outside!
How does He do this? “Through his Spirit.” The same Spirit that brought Jesus all the way from the grave to the throne is the Spirit He shares with all who believe.
So, what is the result? Christ dwells, lives, in our hearts. He doesn’t just come to visit occasionally. He lives there – all the time! That tells me that we have what we need not because of any human ability or because we somehow deserve it but because of God’s love.
That reminds me of the wonderful words found in 2 Peter 1:3-4. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” “Given,” not earned!
Paul spoke of Christ living in our hearts “through faith.” Peter refers to “his very great and precious promises.” He says that “through them you may participate in the divine nature.” These are glorious truths. Satan hates and fears them. He will do anything to make it seem complicated, hard to actually experience. May God help us to grasp the simplicity of His plan!
Faith is a very basic principle that is central to God’s plan. Heb. 11:6 reminds us that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Read the rest of Heb. 11 to be reminded of so many people who served – and experienced – God throughout ancient history. Powerful testimonies of real people!
So, what is faith? Heb 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Many people think of faith as blindly deciding to “believe” something, without actual evidence, because they want to. Nothing could be further from the truth!
True faith is a direct result of a personal encounter with God, by His Spirit, deep on the inside of a willing hearer. That means hearing, not just a person talking to our minds through our ears, but God talking directly to our hearts. The result, for the willing hearer, is a deep heart-level conviction of God’s loving message regarding His Son, Jesus Christ, and that wonderful door of hope that was opened, not just for people in general, but for us personally!
And God’s Word, spoken by His Spirit to the heart, actually imparts not only the truth involved, but also the very ability to actively believe that truth. In other words, faith, itself, is a gift of God. Eph. 2:8.
God is more than willing to do His part in meeting our need. Thus, we read Paul’s words in Eph. 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
His power “at work within us.” Within us! That sounds good to me. But how does that actually work in everyday life?
James 2:17 reminds us of something critically important: “… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Verse 26 repeats this truth: “faith without deeds is dead.” What does this mean?
Many people think of “faith” as something we simply believe in our minds. It is that, but unless that mental belief is translated into action what good is it?
I have often used this simple illustration. Imagine a person who lives on an island in imminent danger of total destruction. But there is a bridge that leads off the island to a place of safety. Now suppose there is a man who confidently proclaims his faith in the bridge – but never actually walks across it to safety! What good is his professed “belief”? Sounds like dead faith to me!
I wonder just how many of God’s wonderful promises we believe in our heads – but fail to live out in our daily lives. Has God left anything undone? Do we need to convince Him to help us? Are His promises really true, for us, today? What is missing?
Here is another simple illustration I have often used. Think of an electric drill, the kind that plugs into the wall. It is designed to do specific jobs, to be used as a matter of choice by someone who wants to accomplish that job. The machine is designed to perform that task. It needs power. There is power available. The cord and the plug are used to access that power. What else is needed? Oh yes, the worker has to make sure the drill is plugged in, move the drill where it is needed and – push the power button on the drill. If any part of the process is left out, nothing happens!
It’s simple when you think about it. And I believe these same elements are involved in living for God in the face of all that opposes us. And the devil will do anything he can to keep us from understanding this.
Living for God is all about living out His character in practical everyday ways. It involves things just as specific as holding a drill and drilling a hole in a specific place at a certain time. A worker is given a job to do. He is given the means to do it. He carries out his instructions. It involves both choice and action.
Let’s consider something we all face at one time or another – and find difficult! How about forgiveness? Has someone really hurt you? We know what God says about this: He tells us to forgive them! He even warns that we won’t be forgiven if we refuse to forgive! Matt. 6:14-15. But, you don’t know what they did! I just can’t let it go! They were wrong! Etc., etc.
And yet, we are told specifically to forgive! And God knows all about our inability to live up to His character, and yet He tells us such things anyway! Does anyone really think it is all unfair? Or is there just maybe more that we need to understand about how the Christian life works?
Consider the drill. How would it work if the worker were told to drill a hole in a certain place by the boss, took the drill, and, without plugging it in, tried to drill? Obviously, that wouldn’t work! But how many people try to live the Christian life in their strength, often without realizing that’s what is happening. God told me to do something and – I’m “trying.” And failing!
Of course, the drill can’t do anything by itself either. It takes everything working together in harmony to produce the desired result.
Power is needed. That’s where “his power that is at work within us” comes into play. The “wire” connecting the power to the tool is needed. What about God’s promises? Remember, God said that “through them you may participate in the divine nature.” 2 Pet. 1:4. God’s promises are not just vague truths; they apply to daily living. They are meant to introduce divine power into our daily real life needs so that divine nature begins to replace human nature in practical ways.
The “tool” itself is needed. When we are truly born again through repentance and faith in Christ we become a “new creation.” 2 Cor. 5:17. God’s life on the inside is the “equipment” we need to actually live out divine nature.
So, there is a need, a “job” to do. Now what? What is needed? Remember the worker with the tool. He has the needed tool; he is connected to the power; but nothing happens unless he presses the power button on the tool and applies it to the current job.
Life presents us with many battles, many conflicts. God instructs us in His Word as to how He desires that we respond. He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. But nothing will happen automatically. Everything in our spiritual lives depends upon CHOICE. Knowing what God wants from us is important, but that means nothing unless we CHOOSE to act accordingly. Remember, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Doing what God says requires both ability and will. God has given all the grace we need to make us able. But He does not bypass our wills. He desires sons and daughters who choose aright.
I’m glad that God works in us “to will and act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” In short, we have everything we need for the salvation He has brought about on the inside to be worked out. Phil. 2:12-13. Are we willing? Will we forgive “that person”? Will we be patient and kind in “that situation”? And so forth.
The title of this article may seem a little unusual, but I hope it helps us to remember something very simple – and practical to everyday Christian living. Many people are “waiting for the power.” They imagine something they can see or feel. If I finally got “that experience” then things would be different. But the truth is that the power is waiting for us!
When that worker with the drill puts the drill bit in the right place and presses the button, the job gets done. When we find ourselves in a particular situation – designed by God for our good (Rom. 8:28) – and step out in faith to do what the Word tells us He wants us to do, we will discover that we can indeed do what needs doing, through His strength. Phil. 4:13.
In Joshua 3 we find the Israelites getting ready to cross the Jordan river into the promised land. It was the season for the river to be at “flood stage.” God’s instructions to the priests were simple: as soon as you step in the river, I’ll stop the flow. Now, our natural way of looking at the situation would cause us to say, “Move the water and I’ll step in.” But God was saying, “Step in, and I’ll move the water”!
That’s how it is with God and His promises. When we “step out” in faith, His promised power kicks in. Are you waiting for the power? The power is waiting for you!