10.9.24

This week we are looking at the majesty of God - his great power. And we’ve seen that there is a power that belongs to God that none of us can share. He alone is the Ruler of this world, and his every plan will come to pass.

But this passage also talks about a power that belongs to man (humanity). Because we are made in God’s image, as the crowning jewel of his creation, he has endowed us with a reflection of his power - the power to rule his creation on God’s behalf. And our Psalm contrasts two approaches to human power that we can take. The one source of power comes from ourselves - as the Psalmist puts it, from armies, horses and chariots (16-17). The other source of power comes from waiting upon God to be our Shield (20-21).

Because we were made in God’s own image, it is right for us to pursue power. We were designed to make an impact upon our world - to matter - to count - and not just be another statistic. We were made to rule with power. And there’s only two ways to do it. The first boots off of human power, which we are told cannot save us. While the other boots off trusting in God’s unfailing love, which empowers us beyond anything our human strength could muster.

The biblical view of power is that of a steward. Though we were created to be stewards of God’s kingdom, ruling under his authority, the Garden of Eden paints a picture for us of the quest for human power. God offered Adam and Eve a paradise! A paradise minus one thing: this one tree. And as it turns out, it was the one thing we couldn’t live without.

There was nothing special about this one tree. What made it special is what it represented. It was a symbol of power and authority - that we operate under his and not on our own. But the heart of sin that entered the world was essentially a power struggle. God asked us to be rulers under his authority, and our hearts wanted to rule with equality to his authority.

We’ve said that the definition of power is the ability to affect whatever we desire. And this is the core issue beneath sin. God has that power, and we want it! We hate the idea that our dreams are often thwarted. We chafe under the notion that our desires are often crushed and never realized. The heart of sin is NOT doing bad things. But the heart of sin is wanting the unlimited power of God - to be able to control our world and fulfill our dreams. With every fiber of our being, we long to diminish the gap between our desires and our ability to make them happen. And only God has that power. And sin is the power struggle with God to get it.

The next time you’re angry with God over circumstances you don’t like…the next time you’re beating yourself up over your inabilities to keep up and order your world, the next time you’re filled with anxiety over obstacles that are holding you back, remember that at its core is a power struggle. It’s really a fight with God to have the power that only he can wield. And the only power that fits us and fills us with the transformational energy that we long for, is to submit to his greater authority, and rule over the things he has given to us.