“I
know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)
“Lift
your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?” (Isaiah 40:26)
God
is supreme. All power belongs to Him----it is indisputable. He does not share
His glory with anyone. “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my
glory to another or my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8) The names He bears ---
Yahweh, Jehovah (He who causes everything to be) and El Shaddai (More than
enough) speak of His might and power. It would be sheer foolishness for anyone
to covet His position when it is not vacant. Anyone who seeks to play God is
courting trouble. He is the Almighty; no power on earth can be compared to His.
“He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.”
(Isaiah 40:23)
His
power extends over all the earth, over all His creation; for He made the
heavens and the earth along with everything that exists within it. God has no
beginning and no end; He existed before the Beginning. “And there is no God
apart from me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none but me.” (Isaiah
45:21c) He rules and reigns eternally.
He
has however delegated His powers to kings, queens, presidents and rulers, and
established them over His creation to manage it not to appropriate it.
Delegation does not mean abnegation. He expects them to be worthy stewards.
Whoever assumes that power does so on His behalf. “And what does the Lord
require of them? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our
God.” (Micah 6:8)
Where
arrogance, deceit and hypocrisy set in, it is recipe for disaster, disorder,
dishonour, confusion and shame. We must learn to lend a repentant ear when we
seem to be surfing in our own glory, deliberately going against the tide. God
is a jealous God, but one who is full of compassion for His people.
Drawing
parallels with a story in the Bible clearly pinpoints the power of our God. The
king of Aram was at war with Israel; now God revealed the plans of the king to
the prophet Elisha who in turn warned the king of Israel of every intended
move. This enraged the king of Aram who thought that an insider was responsible
for leaking ‘intelligence reports’ to his opponent not until he learnt that
“...Elisha the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very
words you speak in your bedroom.” (2 Kings 6:12)
Gehazi
and the Syrian army
A
search team comprising ‘horses and chariots and a strong force’ was dispatched
to arrest the prophet and bring him before the king of Aram. They then
surrounded the city by night. The next morning the prophet’s disciple saw this
and panicked. ‘What shall we do?’ he asked his master. “Don’t be afraid, the
prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’
And the prophet prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the Lord
opened his eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of
fire all around.” (2 Kings 6:15-17) The servant’s spiritual eyes reassured him
of God’s fighting force. We all need at one time or the other to witness the
power of God at play to recognise His greatness.
Calming
the storm
It
is recorded in the Gospels that once Jesus, the son of God, who trod this
earth, was tired and was fast asleep in the boat as they crossed the Sea of
Galilee. In the course of the journey a storm raged that tossed the boat to the
extent that the disciples thought it would capsize. They had tried all that
they knew to do as experienced fishermen but to no avail.
Then
they appealed to the Master for help. They apparently did not hear Him say or
must have glossed over it, ‘Let us go to the other side.’ How could the Creator
of the universe be in a boat that would capsize? If it did, then Jesus was not
the Son of God. He woke up, rebuked the wind and immediately the storm ceased
and He also rebuked his disciples “You of little faith, why are you so afraid.”
(Matthew 8:26) They lacked faith.
Jesus
has power over nature. Not only did He still the storm but he healed the sick,
the lame, gave sight to the blind and drove demons out of the demon-possessed.
Could He not save a nation on the brink of collapse, disaster or arrest any
bloodshed when we call upon Him?
