God is Able
September 2013
“Now unto Him who is able to do . . .” Ephesians 3:20
We don’t live in the same world we grew up in.
That whole side of the street that was nothing but a big green field across from the neighborhood I used to live in? Now it’s a shopping center complete with a drive-thru cleaners, a children’s clothing consignment shop, a nail salon, and a place that sells fantastic chicken wings. (My sons couldn’t be happier.)
Your home mailbox that used to be for handwritten letters, shower invitations, and monthly magazines? Now it’s mostly for bogus sweepstakes and credit card offers. And the technological advancement called email—the one that made us lift our eyebrows in amazement when it first appeared on the scene—is quickly taking a back seat to ever expanding ways of communication. Now we want to see each others’ faces on screen while we chat.
It’s just different. We’re forced to adapt. Things change.
And while some of it is exciting and new, while we love being able to jot someone a quick text from the school pick-up line, while we’re glad we don’t need to drive clear across town to find modern conveniences, our souls do hunger for things we can count on, things that won’t adapt or reinvent or change.
At least, I certainly do.
Case in point: One Friday night nearly a decade ago, my son was staying over at Granny’s house—(thank you, Jesus)—and my pleasantly adjusted plans for the evening included a quick swing by the video rental store for my favorite romantic, girlie flick, a cozy blanket on the sofa, and two hands cupped around a steaming, warm mug of fresh-brewed goodness. Ahh, take me away.
What I found instead, to my disbelief, was that our neighborhood video store had completely overhauled their stock since my last visit, replacing all of their VHS tapes with DVDs. Well, I didn’t own a DVD player. And I had no intentions of buying one. But now, if I still wanted my blanket and my sofa and my two hours of film-induced escape, it was going to cost me $200 for a new piece of equipment that I didn’t really want. I wasn’t interested in the “new and improved.” Our trusty VCR was in perfectly good condition even if it was becoming archaic.
Yup, sometimes we prefer things to just stay the same.
Like the faithful love of a spouse. The innocence of childhood. Healthy skin. Reliable transportation. Gas pump and grocery store prices.
Yet as much as we may desire those, we don’t always get them. And when we don’t, our hearts can start to wonder if we can truly be assured of anything in life—anything besides change and loss and stress and more disappointment.
Good news: we can.
No matter how progressive and post-modern our culture becomes, and no matter how many technological advancements take place, there is still such a thing as unchanging, unflinching, unadulterated truth. No matter what country you live in, what city you’re from, what language you speak, or what you do for a living—real, solid truth maintains a constant balance at any elevation.
Two plus two equals four. Everywhere.
Gravity holds us to the ground. Everyone.
There are twenty-four hours in a day. Every day.
A snoring spouse is annoying. Every night.
(Well, it had to be said.)
So when Paul wrote Ephesians 3:20, he intended to declare an absolute, unconditional, irrevocable truth in a world overrun with constant change and relativity: God, he said, “is able to do” it.
Whatever your “it” may be, God’s got it covered.
When the Scripture declares God’s power and might to be unlimited, unstoppable, and boundless, we are staring at a truth that’s more certain than the fat grams in a doughnut, than the battery life on a sundial, than the chances of running into a cheapskate at a coupon convention.
God = Is = Able.
Any way you add it up. This is something we can know for certain in our hearts in regard to any and every impossible situation we’re facing. It is something we can keep turning our lives toward with confidence every minute of every day. Any day. Like today.
He can do it.
He is able.
That’s the truth.
Bank on it.
*Priscilla’s newest book is called God is Able and will be released in October 2013.
