ALL POWER BELONGS TO GOD

“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?