(From I Chronicles 4:9-10, II Kings 20:1-11, Genesis 1, 2 Chronicles 26:20, and Job 1:10)
I had a 1950 Ford car as my first ride back in 1964. The sales brochure boasted the V8 having 100 HP, which seemed pretty considerable back then. Imagine 100 horses lined up pulling all at once! Now you can get a stock vehicle with over 700 HP. How much power do you need to propel a vehicle that fast? 700 horses……
There are other kinds of power, like electrical power. It is measured by how much voltage is applied to an application. The higher the voltage, the more work it can do.
What about the power of wind? Look at a hurricane or a tornado……. What do neighborhoods look like after a hurricane or tornado has passed? Think about how much work it took to build a town over many, many years. Then in minutes, it is leveled. Raw power……
There is the power of microscopic things, as well. Tiny bacteria and viruses can bring a person from seemingly perfect health to serious condition quickly. The covid19 situation currently shakes many people’s existence to the core.
The impact of physically perceived power is undeniable. But what about power that CAN’T be seen? What about power that changes lives from the inside? Being born again is POWER! What about power that defies our human senses? God has the power and WE have the conduit to that power in prayer.
The Prayer of Jabez says in those two short verses – “And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that thou would bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou would keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!’ And God granted him that which he requested. That’s power where God granted ALL that Jabez requested.
In II Kings 20:1-11, Hezekiah gets a 15-year extension on his life, and wants supernatural confirmation that God will grant it. So, he asks God to change the normal orbiting of the sun and the earth by making the shadow of a sundial go backwards. That’s serious power!
God made everything, and made everything out of nothing. He controls the tiny sub-atomic particles that make up atoms and molecules. He controls the muscle tissue, the weather, and any infirmity mankind has ever known. It was and is no surprise to God that there was leprosy, blindness, crippling physical conditions, and restoring acres of dry bones to life….
2 Chronicles 26:20 says – “And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.” God can and does “smite” people. Why? Sometimes, only He knows!
Job 1:10 says – “Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” God protects!
God is not reckless with the things He does, but is purposeful. He does things to show HIS power. He brings disease and removes disease. Do NOT despair. He knows who will be sick and why. He knows who will get well and why. Pray to be aligned with His will in your life! “Lord, allow us to not fear Your ways and plans. The weather obeys YOU, the physical earth obeys YOU. All life obeys YOU. In sickness OR health, let us worship YOU with submission in glad hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”