“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” -Ephesians 3:20
My mind is constantly running. Ideas, thoughts, and plans are always flowing through my head. Often these are way out of my current capabilities, whether it be what it would feel like to fly, or a new system that would better the world.
There’s very little restraints on the progress of an idea within your mind. You can dream up some pretty crazy things. Looking to Ephesians 3:20, it tells us that God can do more than we can ask or even think!
As I read those words, I’m in awe of the Lord’s power.
Sometimes, I think we can forget just how powerful God is. The creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who can calm a raging storm, who knew you before you were ever born. And we still forget His powerfulness.
I don’t mean forget in a way of disbelief that He did all those things. I mean forget in the way that we dwell on our problems. Making them bigger and bigger in our mind, instead of focusing on that God is bigger than any problem that comes our way. I mean forget in the way we go about our day to day lives, without a thought of God’s goodness. I mean forget in the way we focus on ourselves so much, and that’s where our attention is kept.
“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” Isaiah 42:8
The Lord deserves our praise, not for His greatness to be forgotten. He does not give His glory or praise to another, but in our sinfulness we still give our attention to others or ourselves.
Without the realization that we’re doing this, we can’t turn our eyes fully to Him, not on our own. The one true King, the God who every knee will bow to, He can do whatever it takes to get our focus back to Him.
Back in October of 2020, God did just that with me. From an outward glance, everything was going good for me. I enjoyed my work, my friendships were solid, and a lot of my free time was spent helping out at church. Inwards though, my heart was not focused on God, but on me.
I came home one day from hanging out with some friends, to my parents telling me they were spontaneously leaving for Florida the next morning with my younger siblings. I had to work, and needed to stay home. I ended up getting off early a few days that week, but every time I tried to make plans my friends were busy. Coming home to an empty house, with no plans to go anywhere, a sadness began to creep up. This continued on for the rest of the week. A repetitive cycle, feeling the loneliness, sitting in self pity as I focused on me, drown it out with some distraction. Again and Again.
By the end of that week, I was feeling pretty low, but I held on to the hope of going to a friend’s house that Saturday night. The day finally came, and I was filled with excitement, ready to not be alone anymore. A few hours before I was to leave, I got a text from a friend that the get together had been cancelled.
I was devastated, and began to buy into different lies the enemy was using against me. My heart ached, and I left myself zone out in front of the tv, feeling alone and unwanted.
The next morning, I decided to go to a coffee shop, so I wouldn’t be alone. Yet even though there were plenty of people around, I still felt that way. As I dug around in my over-sized purse, looking for a book, I pulled out my Bible instead. I flipped around until I found Psalm, and just began to read. The next few hours I continued to spend with God, my heart felt lighter than it had in awhile.
Looking back on that time, I see how I was stuck in this pattern, of focusing on myself, and idolizing my time spent with others. God did what it took to break me of the pattern, and bring my focus back to Him. It took sending my family away, my friends not being able to be with me, and moments of being alone, to see where my heart was at that time, and to draw me nearer to Him.
While that time was difficult, it reminded me where my joy truly comes from, and that I am completed by the Lord, and not things of this earth. It reminded me of how powerful God is, and even remembering this time causes my heart to be filled with hope!
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11
Whether right now is the greatest moment of your life, or you feel you’re at your lowest point, the Lord is great and powerful. He is good. Always.
I encourage you to think, and pray today, about where your praise is going to. Are you truly focused on the Lord, do you see His power in the day to days?
It’s not a one and done thing. This is something we will most likely often struggle with, and fall in again. But we serve a gracious, merciful, and powerful God. He can do the unimaginable and impossible. He can do whatever it takes.
-Ellie Marie
Total Surrender 