Ability - The second component to trustworthiness.

Have you ever considered this: the same power or ability that parted the Red Sea is available to you?  Ephesians 1:19 says, “… and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.”  God holds the whole ocean in His hand, and He created the land on which we stand and walk. This same power is available to us today! By this power we can be liberated from the sin that dwells within us.  God is the power that created the heavens and the earth. When He said, “Let there be light!” the light came to the earth, and He created day and night. (Genesis 1) God parted the Red Sea; He made the walls of Jericho fall without a single blow. (Exodus 14:21; Joshua 6:20). Even the sun and the moon have to stand still at His command. (Joshua 10:13)  God is infinitely great.

The prophet Isaiah made an attempt at describing Him:  “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?” Isaiah 40:12.  “… Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.” Isaiah 40:22.  God is eternal.  This is the same God with whom we can have a personal relationship. He is always the same. He is everlasting.  “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.” Isaiah 40:28-29.  That means that this same power, the same tremendous power that parted the Red Sea in a moment, is available now – to you and me!

Most of us will not overtake cities and countries, or go to battle against physical enemies, but God has called us to resist the sin that dwells in us. Through Jesus He gave us the possibility of being set free from sin’s slavery, to overcome our own lusts and demands, and to conquer everything that causes unrest and conflict.  We need God’s help every day – each time we are tempted – to overcome the sin that wants to come out of us. Sin is strong, but God’s power is always stronger! His power breaks down barriers and walls, and makes possible what was impossible! We can stand by the power of the eternal God in those very areas where we used to fall in sin again and again! 

God can create something completely new in us if we surrender to His power and set our own will aside. This puts us in the right position to be transformed. When God gains access to our lives we can truly become new creations who are no longer under the power of sin. What an incredible hope! Do we see it?

Paul writes in Ephesians 1:17-18,  “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints …”  Just as Paul prayed that the Ephesians could see even more clearly, we also can pray to receive enlightened eyes of the heart. We can pray to be able to see as God sees. Then God will again cause light to shine where it was dark before, and situations are turned upside down. Life becomes very interesting and very hopeful!

We must lay hold of trust in God’s power in our personal lives. This power is strong enough to set us free from sin and bring us into a life of abiding in the will of God; this gives us a future and hope (Jeremiah 29:11). Trust in God’s power allows us to let go and instead let Him – He who has all power over heaven and earth – guide us. God’s power is exceedingly great!  “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Ephesians 1:17-21.

God has the ability.  Do you have the ability to trust in Him?