… and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Summary: Every once in awhile, Paul’s words stir up a memory in me that is worth sharing. Outside of the power of Jesus Christ to save a sinner like me, seeing the eruption of Mt. St. Helens up close is the greatest power I have ever witnessed.
In May of 1980, two very important events happened. One was that Mt. St. Helens erupted. The other was that I started dating the girl who would become my wife.
On May 18th, after the initial blast, smoke and ash continued to stream out of what was left of the mountain. At the time, I was living about forty-five miles southwest of the base of the blast zone. From where I lived, it looked like an atomic bomb had gone off where the mountain was. (According to the US Geological Survey, the force of the explosion was about 1,600 times the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.*)
A friend of mine worked for the local newspaper, and since I sometimes helped him with pictures for his stories, he and I decided to get as close to the mountain as possible. Of course, what better way for a guy to impress his new girlfriend than to take her along on an insane adventure?
My buddy’s press credentials got us past the roadblocks, and soon we made our way to a little town called Cougar at the base of the mountain. There is a small grocery store there and we pulled into the parking lot to admire the view.
We got out of the car and looked up. We found ourselves looking up at what appeared to be an upside-down Niagara Falls of smoke and ash boiling out of the mountain. Lightning bolts flashed constantly, and the sound was like the roar of a thousand firehoses. Beneath our feet, the ground moved up and down like the rolling of the ocean when you are out in a small boat.
Needless to say, the “view” from there was impressive … and frightening!
It didn’t take long for us to get our fill of being that close to that much power. Soon we were back in the car heading home. We stopped somewhere on the way where it was safer to be. Others were gathered around watching, mesmerized by the untamable forces that had been unleashed.
Looking back at that experience through the lens of the past four decades, I would say that for me, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens was an “incomparably great power.” Yet, when I ponder the God who made the earth and all that is in it, I know that what my wife and I witnessed that day was little more than a speck of dust when compared to the immeasurable power of the Creator Himself.
The kind of power Paul is thinking of is far greater than merely evaporating 250 million cubic yards of rock.* Instead of destructive power, Paul is thinking of God’s power to create and sustain life. It is the power that sustains the universe and all that is in it. It is also the power that has created and sustained the spiritual realms.
As we come to know the power of the Living God, we find ourselves, as I did forty-some years ago, staring at something we can barely comprehend. Something so completely awesome that there is nothing we can compare it to.
Application: Stay away from live volcanos!
Food for Thought: Why is this power Paul speaks of only for “us who believe?”
*https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2000/fs036-00/
Now I have to ask your wife what she thought of that insane adventure.
I’m not sure she ever recovered! 🙂
I think he’s still sitting in the context of salvation, which is only given to those who have enough faith to actually accept it. Sometimes it’s hard enough to believe that one person’s sins could be truly taken away, forgiven entirely. How much more power is there in cleansing so many, each with their own insurmountable sin issue?
Angela,
Thank you! You make me think about the effort it sometimes takes to forgive someone who has offended me. Sometimes it is easy to forgive, sometimes hard. God’s capacity to forgive is enough for the hard multiplied by infinity.
I am was glad to learn that your second paragraph was about the volcano and not dating your wife 😊. And the application point is always good advice.
I think the power spoken of here is only for believers because in context the power is used in a positive sense. I think unbelievers will eventually see God’s power too, but unfortunately it will not be in a positive sense (unless there is repentance first).
Rich,
Are you suggesting that there was a connection between me starting to date Debbie and the mountain blowing??!! 🙂 LOL!
One thing about God’s power being manifest in the lives of believers is that it becomes visible to the unbeliever.
I agree brother. Amen.
Why is this power Paul speaks of only for “us who believe?”
All are given an opportunity to choose between belief and unbelief as the truth is revealed to all by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Our choice to be with God, or apart from God is eternal and God simply honors each persons choice as He gives each what they have chosen.
8 AND WHEN HE IS COME, HE WILL REPROVE THE WORLD OF SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND OF JUDGEMENT.
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
John 16:8-12
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, ACCORDING TO THE WORKING OF HIS MIGHTY POWER.
Ephesians 1:19
Ron,
Isn’t it comforting that our Creator goes to such extremes to save his creation? 🙂
Both comforting and humbling. We are nothing while He is the all powerful creator of everything, who has empowered His children to give this kind of love to others. Only Christ in us can.