I almost feel like starting this post off with some kind of a Star Trek quote, something to the effect of Captain Kirk telling Scotty that he needs more power, and the accented engineer replying along the lines of, "I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain!" Okay, maybe that's the Star Trek nerd in me coming out, but some things influence you so much in childhood that they never go away.
At the gym I used to work out in when I lived in another state, they had a T-shirt that you could buy which simply said, "Lift heavy things." I don't remember the picture, just the saying, but the implication was that, if you wanted to get stronger and have more power, you had to lift heavy things. As you can imagine, that would be a common perception in a gym.
Now, we humans can take a good idea like that and over-apply it to our lives. I've heard, on any number of occasions, that people should strengthen their spiritual lives. I've heard and read too many approaches to give them any press here. But it basically always seems to boil down to one thing. YOU pick up something and start doing something. YOU dedicate yourself to reading the Bible more regularly. YOU devote yourself more to prayer, and perhaps a few other spiritual disciplines. YOU, and YOU, and YOU.
The only problem is, that doesn't seem to be the biblical way of growing in power and strength, either in faith toward God, or in love toward others. I think St. Paul hits it on the head in Ephesians 3:16, when he prays that the Ephesian Christians would be granted to be strengthened with power through God's Spirit. In other words, Paul recognizes where any growth in power or strength comes from. Not from extra Bible reading (how would that work for people who either couldn't read, or who didn't have the full Bible like we do now?), or from extra dedication to prayer, but as God grants it.
Our human conceit is that we want to be the ones who do the strengthening, and not relying upon God to choose how strong or powerful we are. So these words from Paul truly do humble us. We're only as strong as God grants us to be. But what we also discover is that there is a lot of good news in that.
First, God does indeed give us strength and power. We aren't powerless, but are given power by God's granting. And, we also find that God does grow us in that power and strength. Sometimes He does so through our study of His Word and our prayer, but He does it according to His granting, not according to how fervent we are, or how pure our desire may be. He does it as He grants it.
In the verses around Ephesians 3:16, Paul also makes it clear why God grants growth and power in faith and love. It's to grow our love for others. It isn't for us to show off how powerful we are, or how strong of a faith or love we have. It's to humbly look to the good of others. And in the end, that's probably why it comes at God's granting. In it all, we're guided right back to what God does, and how God chooses to work, so often through us, but according to His power and granting.
At the gym I used to work out in when I lived in another state, they had a T-shirt that you could buy which simply said, "Lift heavy things." I don't remember the picture, just the saying, but the implication was that, if you wanted to get stronger and have more power, you had to lift heavy things. As you can imagine, that would be a common perception in a gym.
Now, we humans can take a good idea like that and over-apply it to our lives. I've heard, on any number of occasions, that people should strengthen their spiritual lives. I've heard and read too many approaches to give them any press here. But it basically always seems to boil down to one thing. YOU pick up something and start doing something. YOU dedicate yourself to reading the Bible more regularly. YOU devote yourself more to prayer, and perhaps a few other spiritual disciplines. YOU, and YOU, and YOU.
The only problem is, that doesn't seem to be the biblical way of growing in power and strength, either in faith toward God, or in love toward others. I think St. Paul hits it on the head in Ephesians 3:16, when he prays that the Ephesian Christians would be granted to be strengthened with power through God's Spirit. In other words, Paul recognizes where any growth in power or strength comes from. Not from extra Bible reading (how would that work for people who either couldn't read, or who didn't have the full Bible like we do now?), or from extra dedication to prayer, but as God grants it.
Our human conceit is that we want to be the ones who do the strengthening, and not relying upon God to choose how strong or powerful we are. So these words from Paul truly do humble us. We're only as strong as God grants us to be. But what we also discover is that there is a lot of good news in that.
First, God does indeed give us strength and power. We aren't powerless, but are given power by God's granting. And, we also find that God does grow us in that power and strength. Sometimes He does so through our study of His Word and our prayer, but He does it according to His granting, not according to how fervent we are, or how pure our desire may be. He does it as He grants it.
In the verses around Ephesians 3:16, Paul also makes it clear why God grants growth and power in faith and love. It's to grow our love for others. It isn't for us to show off how powerful we are, or how strong of a faith or love we have. It's to humbly look to the good of others. And in the end, that's probably why it comes at God's granting. In it all, we're guided right back to what God does, and how God chooses to work, so often through us, but according to His power and granting.
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