Grace For The Journey

   A big part of a pastor’s job involves counseling others.  I am continually confronted by situations where it becomes painfully clear that the root cause of a person’s distress is what he or she is trusting in . . .

And I’ve found that far too many people

Are trusting in their own personal might.

The result is less than what we’d hoped for

At best . . . And a train wreck at worst.

You see, we always have two choices in life:

We can trust in our own might . . .

Or we can trust in the Mighty One!

The Bible says in Psalm 50:1-6, “The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down.  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.  Our God shall come and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be bery tempestuous all around Him.  He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people; gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”  Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge.  Selah.”

After reading a passage like that, it seems kind of silly to trust in our own might, doesn’t it?  The psalmist began his exaltation with three splendid divine names: Mighty One, God, and Lord.  How mighty is this Mighty One?  First, we see that God rules over the whole earth.  Next, we see that our Mighty One has fire at His disposal, a fire of righteous judgment that devours before Him, while a tempest rages around Him.

We know from the Book of Psalms that none of these things are random or beyond God’s sovereign hand; lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds, all these do His bidding (Psalm 148:8).  He makes flames of fire His servants and rides on the wings of the wind (Psalm 104:3-4).  He, and He alone, can command the lightning bolt precisely where it should strike (Job 36:32).  Indeed, He is a Mighty One!

God is in control of all things

And uses all things for His glory

And to accomplish His purposes.

But there is more!  We see in this passage that this Mighty One has made a covenant with His people.  A covenant is a solemn agreement between people; when one of those persons is the Mighty One, you can take that agreement to the bank.  And so . . .

We should never trust in our own might

But always trust in our Mighty One!

• In your weakness – He is your strength.
• In your impossibilities – He is One who makes it possible
• In your brokenness – He is your healing.
• In your restlessness – He is your peace.
• In your pain – He is your comfort.
• In your doubt – He is your truth.
• In your fear – He is your faith.
• In your darkness – He is your light.
• And in your death – He is your life.

Your Mighty One is your everything;

He is the answer to every question

. . . The solution to every problem.

As a father of four children, I can tell you that there is nothing that blesses me more than when they come to me for advice, help, or simply just to talk.  It blesses me, and I hope I am able to provide a blessing for them.  But how much MORE is our mighty, heavenly Father able to bless us when we come to Him!  And yet . . . all too often we trust in our own might and neglect coming to our Mighty One.  Or we think of coming to Him as the last resort, when all else has failed, rather than coming to Him right at the outset and then waiting confidently for His promised deliverance.

I pray that today’s blog will remind you – and me! – to reach out to the only true Source of might: our Mighty One.  Because God is a covenant-keeping God, you can trust in every promise He has made, including the one to never leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).

Now, that is a “might” worth trusting in!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”