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When dealing with God, on both the practical and spiritual levels, we have two dissimilar concepts running in our heads simultaneously. On the one hand is the concept of God’s ability, of what he is capable of doing, and on the other is the concept of what God will do for us in this particular situation.
This is a conundrum. Because God CAN, does not mean he WILL. And if he WON’T, does not mean he CAN’T. And if he did not do it, does not mean that he could not have done it.
The three Hebrew Boys of Old Testament fame, Shadrack, Meshach, and Abed-nego of Daniel 3: 8-18, were confident that God would do the right thing on their behalf, and by direct, divine intervention they were miraculously delivered from the fiery flames.
The greatest human to ever walk this earth was John the Baptist, Jesus said as much in Matthew 11:11. Put in prison by the act of an evil tyrant, John was confident that God would do the right thing on his behalf. God did not intervene and here is what happened: “And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. (Mark 6:27-28)
This may puzzle you, but it should not. God did the right and blessed thing in both situations, for it is manifestly the case that God’s will is served not just by glorious acts of miraculous displays, but also by what we deem unfortunate, brutal, inhuman acts.
God’s will was served just as much by the brutal execution of Jesus on the cross at Calvary as by the deliverance of Daniel from the lions’ den.
It would be foolish and misleading to evaluate what happens to believers purely in terms of the physical, and not understand that God’s will is more profound and transcendent than the here and now.
Some good people die bad, and some bad people die good. It is equally true that some good people die good and some bad people die bad. This in no way should infer that those good people who died bad must have had some hidden evil somewhere in them, that led to their bad death.
Because God is omnipotent, a concept that is rarely understood and even more rarely appreciated, the Bible tells us again and again that there is absolutely nothing that God cannot do, there is nothing too hard for God to do, there is nothing impossible with God.
The Bible speaks eloquently, unambiguously and forcefully on this subject:
As with Abraham and Sarah being promised a son in their old age: “And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18:13-14)
As with Job during his travails: “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” (Job 42:2)
As with Jeremiah during his ministry: “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.” (Jeremiah 32:17)
As with the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus: “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:35-37)
As with the rich, young ruler and the impossibility of saving oneself: "When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:25-26).
Our God is able to do anything.
Sometimes it seems that the matters to hand are so enormous that even God cannot help, sometimes we seem to be going through things that God doesn’t seem concern with, and things get immeasurably worse because, along the way, we forgot that our God is able.
The truth is that we often fail to make the most of God’s ability because instead of coming to God fully trusting, we stumble in unbelief. And as the Bible tells us, unbelief is the barrier that prevents God from acting on our behalf, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58)
God is able to do some important things IF we allow him.
GOD IS ABLE TO GUARANTEE our spiritual completeness.
We are complete in Christ; there are no deficiencies whatsoever. God authenticates this powerful guarantee by:
His ability to deliver us: “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.” (Daniel 3:17)
His ability to heal us: “And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.” (Matthew 9:28)
His ability to deliver us from temptation: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
His ability to save us: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)
His ability to keep us from falling: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude 1:24)
This divine guarantee is like no other, for what God has promised he is able to perform.
GOD IS ABLE TO SAFEGUARD our journey along his highway.
He has lovingly and thoughtfully assigned a guardian angel to watch over us. God substantiates this crucial safeguard in addition by:
His ability to Heal Our Diseases. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” (Psalm 103:2-3)
His ability to Deliver Us from Death. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)
His ability to Supply Our Needs. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
His ability to Keep Us from Sin. “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)
GOD IS ABLE TO ENSURE our heavenly arrival.
However tough the journey might be, the arrival at heaven’s gate is in God’s hands. God preserves believers by his grace and by:
His ability to Help Us through His Word, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)
His ability Make Us Stand, “Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4)
His ability to Make All Grace Abound, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
His ability to Answer Prayer, “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, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Finally, this awesome, ineffable ability of God to generate, transform and preserve believers in Christ is indeed second to none. Abundant blessings redound to us if we plug in to this inexhaustible supply, remembering that God is not just willing, but fully able, and that, “...the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)
Enough said.
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