I recently had an encounter which illustrated Ephesians 3:20
in an amazing way. Some of you may remember the verse best from the King James,
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us.” I can’t share the details of
my experience, but I can say I went into the situation with an idea of how it
would go, and what happened was beyond my wildest imagination.
I left convicted that I had seriously underestimated what
God might do. I memorized Ephesians 3:20 early in my walk with the Lord, which
was decades ago. And yet, still, I drop my jaw over how God can show up in unexpected
ways and work out details that wouldn’t even occur to me.
There’s an interesting note in Wycliffe’s commentary on this
verse which focuses on that last phrase, “according to the power that worketh
in us.” The commentary reads, “That is, we have been strengthened by his Spirt.
Consequently, this power is being energized in us.”
Strong's translates the Greek word power here with these
meanings—"force, miraculous power, ability,
abundance.”
What I had really underestimated is what God might do
through this jar of clay with my name on it. We can forget who we are in Him.
We are His plan A, not the default plan, yet, sometimes, we act as if we are.
In challenging circumstances, we need to move in the
awareness that the same miraculous power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in
us. Maybe we need to develop a consistent attitude of expecting the unexpected.
As some of you know, I hardly ever post stock photos, but
try to use pics I’ve taken. When thinking of an illustration for this post, I
thought of the peony picture I took this past week. I love peonies, but my
attempts at growing them have not been successful. We saw these in a store, and
Jerry wanted to buy them for me. The buds were closed when we bought them, but
thirty minutes later they had burst open in full splendor.
Unexpected, but such an illustration of how God can cause a situation that seems closed to open in a moment with glorious beauty--above all that we ask or think.