The Power Of One Faithful Life
"Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21
Read that verse again and notice where Paul locates the power.
Not out there somewhere. Not in an institution, a budget, or a platform. The power at work within us. It is already here, already inside the ordinary people reading this, and Paul says it can do abundantly more than we are even able to imagine asking for.
Sit with that. Your imagination is not the ceiling. Most of us pray carefully, keeping our requests modest so we will not be disappointed. Paul says God is working past the edges of what you thought to ask.
And here is what that power does not require. It does not require a large following. It does not require an impressive budget or a title or the right credentials or a resume anybody would be impressed by. It requires a surrendered life, which is available to every single one of us, right now, at no cost but everything.
History keeps proving this. A seamstress refuses to give up a bus seat and a city changes. A monk nails a list of complaints to a door and a continent changes. A teenager writes in a diary while hiding in an attic and generations change. A carpenter from an unimportant town gathers twelve unremarkable people, and the world has not stopped changing since.
Not one of them had a platform when they started. Every one of them had something better: availability.
God has never had a shortage of talent. He has had a shortage of yes.
You might be saying, "Pastor, you do not know how ordinary my life is." I do not need to. That is exactly the point of the verse. The power is not proportional to your resources. It is proportional to God, and it is at work within you whether or not you feel it on a given Tuesday.
Your faithfulness matters more than you will ever be able to measure. Your one life, lived in genuine alignment with God's values, is capable of accomplishing more than you can ask or imagine. Not because of who you are. Because of who lives in you.
Spend real time in prayer today, and make it simple. Surrender your life to God again. Tell him you are available, and mean it. Then ask him to do abundantly more through your one faithful life than you have had the nerve to imagine.
God has never needed a crowd. He has always just needed somebody willing!
Prayer:
God, we surrender to you again today. We are available, with whatever we have and whoever we are. Do abundantly more through our lives than we could ever ask or imagine. Amen.
Read that verse again and notice where Paul locates the power.
Not out there somewhere. Not in an institution, a budget, or a platform. The power at work within us. It is already here, already inside the ordinary people reading this, and Paul says it can do abundantly more than we are even able to imagine asking for.
Sit with that. Your imagination is not the ceiling. Most of us pray carefully, keeping our requests modest so we will not be disappointed. Paul says God is working past the edges of what you thought to ask.
And here is what that power does not require. It does not require a large following. It does not require an impressive budget or a title or the right credentials or a resume anybody would be impressed by. It requires a surrendered life, which is available to every single one of us, right now, at no cost but everything.
History keeps proving this. A seamstress refuses to give up a bus seat and a city changes. A monk nails a list of complaints to a door and a continent changes. A teenager writes in a diary while hiding in an attic and generations change. A carpenter from an unimportant town gathers twelve unremarkable people, and the world has not stopped changing since.
Not one of them had a platform when they started. Every one of them had something better: availability.
God has never had a shortage of talent. He has had a shortage of yes.
You might be saying, "Pastor, you do not know how ordinary my life is." I do not need to. That is exactly the point of the verse. The power is not proportional to your resources. It is proportional to God, and it is at work within you whether or not you feel it on a given Tuesday.
Your faithfulness matters more than you will ever be able to measure. Your one life, lived in genuine alignment with God's values, is capable of accomplishing more than you can ask or imagine. Not because of who you are. Because of who lives in you.
Spend real time in prayer today, and make it simple. Surrender your life to God again. Tell him you are available, and mean it. Then ask him to do abundantly more through your one faithful life than you have had the nerve to imagine.
God has never needed a crowd. He has always just needed somebody willing!
Prayer:
God, we surrender to you again today. We are available, with whatever we have and whoever we are. Do abundantly more through our lives than we could ever ask or imagine. Amen.
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