Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
When I was in college, I was very blessed to be a member of a dynamic choral group that travelled the nation sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Wed rehearse and learn every note to perfection, load up on buses and planes and leave campus full of anticipation and a little bit of holy naiveté. On occasion, our director would ask different members to sing a solo while the choir took a much needed break. When he invited me to sing, I chose my favorite song. With all the conviction my 20 year old heart and soul could muster, I would take the platform and with mic in hand, belt out my favorite song, He is Able!
And I know when my eyes fail to see, He is Able!
Even though it seems impossible to me--He is able!
But if He chooses not to move in the way weve prayed He would,
Im confident Hes working all together for my good!
I will stand behind His Word, for He is able!
I knew I could sing that song! I had lived it! How else would I have been able to score such high grades if God Himself had not been able to help me?
Then real life hit. A parent had to undergo an emergency heart by-pass operation as we nervously paced the waiting rooms. Was He able then? A friend died without warning and without the opportunities for good-byes. Was He able then? Lifelong plans for a house full of babies crumbled beneath the weight of an empty cradle. What about that? Was God still able even in the midst of infertility?
The answer, my friend, is a resounding, yes! God is able!
Surely you have dreamt about your future, and how you envision the family you are asking God for. Your dreams may have been crushed by impossible diagnoses or financial deficits. Perhaps the doctors havent been able to find why you cannot conceive, and you find that you are unable to imagine a life without a baby. If this is the reality of your life today, I ask you to find the God of Ephesians 3:20.
Ephesians 3:20 reveals God to us as the one who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think... Even your wildest imaginations fail to live up to the ability of God. Go ahead! Give it a shot! Imagine the most amazing, most unbelievable miracle your finite mind can create. Gods abilities surpass them all!
However, God sometimes works in ways we have yet to imagine. We only see our situation the way it is today, right now. We only see what is happening--or not happening--through the filter of human eyes. He is still able. We feel todays pain, and todays frustrations. He is still able. The doctors hand down another diagnosis. Another year turns on the calendar. He is still able. Its hard to imagine that God is working all things in abilities so far beyond what my eyes can see. He is still able.
As I sit in my mid forties, the song has a much more profound meaning to me than it did as a college student. Why? Because when I was a 20 year old college girl, I knew the words to the song. As a 45 year old woman who has faced infertility, failed adoptions, multiple diagnoses and a pretty long laundry list of other difficult life situations, I know the God behind the words, and I know He really is able!
-BF