Ephesians 3:20-21 –
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
1a : having sufficient power, skill, or resources to accomplish an object
b : susceptible to action or treatment
2: marked by intelligence, knowledge, skill, or competence
My God is Able
Do you ever feel like you’re not able? You’re not able to take one more minute of your babies crying, one more minute of your husband’s complaining, one more minute of being unappreciated? We often feel unable. We might feel unable to cope, unable to forgive, unable to ask for help, or unable to figure out what to do next. As humans, we do have our limitations, but often it is just our fear that stops us from moving forward. We’re afraid of the unknown. We’re afraid of failing. We’re afraid of looking stupid. Our pride gets in our way of asking for help, even from God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine
God is able. I love this verse. He’s able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine? I think I’m pretty creative, so I can come up with a lot of ideas, but He can do more than I imagine, and not just a little bit more, but a ton more, immeasurably more. In the verses before our reading it says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Combined with knowing that God is able, we know that he has give us His power through His Holy Spirit. We are given the power to know how deep and wide and long and high Christ’s love is for us.
To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations
Again, it’s true that we have limitations. We’re not able to do everything on our own. We need God’s help, and he promises to be there. Since we are nothing without our Lord, all of the glory that comes to us in this life should be pointed to God.
Sometimes we miss that point though, don’t we? I remember a story about a man who was praying really hard that things would improve at his work. He was having trouble making his quotas, getting along with co workers and his boss. He prayed and prayed. After a while he realized things had truly improved. He was back on track in sales, his boss was respecting him and his work, and his co workers seemed to find him a bit more charming lately. The man immediately went back to the Lord in prayer saying, “Lord, I prayed to you about work. I just wanted to let you know not to worry about it, I fixed it.”
We don’t always want to give God the glory when things go well. We don’t want to think that we didn’t have a little something to do with it. We want to think it couldn’t have really happened without us. But that’s not true. God is the one who is the source of all good things, and He deserves all the glory. He is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever imagine.
Are you able?
God is... 