Above all that we ask or think

I recently had an encounter which illustrated Ephesians 3:20in an amazing way. Some of you may remember the verse best from the King James,“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask orthink, according to the power that worketh in us.” I can’t share the details ofmy experience, but I can say I went into the situation with an idea of how itwould go, and what happened was beyond my wildest imagination.

I left convicted that I had seriously underestimated whatGod might do. I memorized Ephesians 3:20 early in my walk with the Lord, whichwas decades ago. And yet, still, I drop my jaw over how God can show up in unexpectedways and work out details that wouldn’t even occur to me.

There’s an interesting note in Wycliffe’s commentary on thisverse which focuses on that last phrase, “according to the power that workethin us.” The commentary reads, “That is, we have been strengthened by his Spirt.Consequently, this power is being energized in us.”

Strong's translates the Greek word power here with thesemeanings—"force, miraculous power, ability,abundance.”

What I had really underestimated is what God might dothrough this jar of clay with my name on it. We can forget who we are in Him.We are His plan A, not the default plan, yet,  sometimes, we act as if we are.

In challenging circumstances, we need to move in theawareness that the same miraculous power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inus. Maybe we need to develop a consistent attitude of expecting the unexpected.

As some of you know, I hardly ever post stock photos, buttry to use pics I’ve taken. When thinking of an illustration for this post, Ithought of the peony picture I took this past week. I love peonies, but myattempts at growing them have not been successful. We saw these in a store, andJerry wanted to buy them for me. The buds were closed when we bought them, butthirty minutes later they had burst open in full splendor.

Unexpected, but such an illustration of how God can cause asituation that seems closed to open in a moment with glorious beauty--above all that we ask or think. 

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24260977-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Beverly Varnado is the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. Her memoir, Faith in the Fashion District, from Crosslink Publishing is available wherever fine books are sold. Also consider her other books, Give My Love to the Chestnut Trees and Home to Currahee.To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.com Beverly Varnado copyright 2021