To Him Who Is Able

The song, “Touch of the Master’s Hand,” tells the story of an auction where an old violin was being sold. The auctioneer started the bidding with $1 and got no bids. Then a man stood up from the audience, picked up the violin, and started to play the most beautiful music. As soon as he returned the violin to the table, the auctioneer started again, “Who will give me $1000, $2000, $3000 twice, now that’s a good price.”

A young man asked, “What happened? Why is everyone suddenly so interested in that old violin?” A man responded, “The difference was the touch of the master’s hand.”

Some people have great skills and abilities in certain areas and will always be far better than the rest of us. I doubt any of us can play basketball like Michael Jordan. We probably can’t even play baseball like Michael. Very few people will ever have the business savvy of Bill Gates, creating, buying, and selling numerous tech businesses as well as software and hardware. Only a small number of musicians have what it takes to create symphonies like Beethoven or Tchaikovsky.

As we continue our series in Ephesians, we take a look at how we can be stronger…by the touch of the Master’s hand.

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— ²¹ to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Tonight, I am going to share 3 things we need to know in order to be stronger in heart, mind, soul, and body?

1.     Recognize Where Our Strength Comes From

Paul concludes his prayer in this letter to the Ephesians by giving praise to the only one that is worthy of our worship: God. Scripture captures the true essence of the word worship. In Greek it is, proskuneo, which literally means to kiss the hand toward.

The image is that of a man that is deeply in love with a woman and as soon as he sees her across the crowded room, he ignores everything else that is going on around, focuses everything on her, and blows a kiss to her. He is not worried about what others think. He abandons all else for the sake of expressing his love. He believes that she is worthy of his love.

Paul reminds us through this image that God is worthy of our worship and it is to Him that we lift up our prayers. Why? Because He is the source of our strength.

2.     Realize That God’s Power is Limitless

So often we fail to do what God asks us because we believe we are unable to do it. We believe that we aren’t smart enough. We think we aren’t strong enough. Maybe we just don’t have the heart or care enough. When we understand that God is the source of our strength, we shouldn’t worry about the details.

Yet if we are honest, we will admit that we still do not believe that we can do some things even if God is giving us the strength. Perhaps that is because we fail to understand just how strong God is. The Bible says he is able to do exceedingly more than we can even ask or imagine.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly asked for some incredible things of God. I’ve asked for happiness, for a wife, for children, for a home, for healing, for financial help, for peace and quiet, for rest, and on and on and on. Yet nothing I ask is too big for God to provide. That doesn’t mean that He will just give me all that I ask for, but James 4:2 tells us that if we have a need it is because we have failed to ask God for it. God is able to do exceedingly more than I can ask.

I can also imagine some pretty incredible things that are far beyond my ability. When we first moved to Annapolis I asked God to provide a way for us to minister to the children in Eastport Terrace and Harbor House. I met the police chief and the housing authority director who wanted to do a sports camp for these children, so we made that happen in July 2015. 

Because of that I was told that they were looking for volunteers to help with an afterschool program at the community center. I volunteered in August 2015. In 2016 I was asked to lead the Tuesday program. In 2017 I was asked to be the program director for all of the afterschool programs in Eastport and to direct an arts camp at Maryland Hall. I was just looking for a door with a small crack so that I could help with the children and God said, “I’ll throw the doors wide open, just come on in.” God is above and beyond all that we can ask or think.

3.     Remember God Works In and Through Us

Understanding that our strength comes from God and that His power is limitless helps to embolden us even more when we see that God works in us and through us. The things that God calls me to do doesn’t depend on my abilities or my strength. It is God working in me to accomplish them using his strength which is limitless.

¹³ I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

The things that I do for God are done by God. The strength that I use is from God. The strength that God uses is above and beyond all that we can ask or imagine. That is why we can be stronger in mind, body, and soul. It is not my abilities, but God’s abilities that count. Understanding this should give us no cause for fear, apprehension, reservations, or concerns. We have no need of specific skills, special training, or previous employment experience.

When we finally get to the point that we understand that it is God with us, then we must set aside our own selfish desires and focus on what God desires. God doesn’t promise to use His power, His authority, His strength to do what we want. God doesn’t offer us His power so that we can become a superhero beating up villains everywhere. He doesn’t give us His wisdom so that we can impress others with how smart we are. He doesn’t give us His authority so that we can stand above everyone else as some great leader.

God wants us to be stronger so that we can accomplish His purpose for His Church to glorify His name. Once again, the Bible is telling us that it is not about you. Let me explain.

God had a plan from before the beginning of time to create us for a relationship with Him. God created everything: animals, angels, and astronomy (the universe). But none of that was enough. God longed for more. Then He created us in His own image. Not a physical image, but a spiritual image. God wanted to have fellowship with beings that were similar to Himself. When God created man and woman, He proclaimed them His best creation yet.

When God created humans, He gave them the ability to think and feel and choose. And so, we humans chose to disobey God, breaking the fellowship that we had with God. Still, God loved His creation and wanted to fix the fellowship, so He made a way for the relationship to be restored through the forgiveness of sins by the death of His Son, Jesus. His great love for us accomplished His purpose.

God planned that the church would be the means for gathering those that have been restored to Him, training them to obey His commands, and then sending them out to call others into a real, relational, fellowship with God. And all of this is done so that He can be praised for the great things He has done.

Some may think this sounds very selfish of God. Everything is about Him. It is all for Him. It is to bring Him the glory. Let’s break it down into terms we can better understand.

A loving mom has a plan for her child to grow into a healthy adult that is no longer dependent on her. But, for many years, that child depends entirely on the mom for everything. The mom continues to love and nurture the child knowing that her goal is that one day they will move out on their own and start their own family.

But let’s say that the child doesn’t follow that plan. For whatever reason, the child still needs her help as an adult. Perhaps they are physically or mentally disabled. Perhaps they are just lazy. Maybe they do everything right, but they still need her help.

The mom could just decide to let them deal with their own problems. She could choose to simply kick them out of the house and ignore them. But she loves them too much and wants a better life for them. So, she does whatever she can to help them until they are eventually able to survive on their own and move out and start their own family (if possible).

That mom’s love for that child led her to help her child for many years, sometimes beyond the plan, yet the good things that the child does, and then later as an adult, makes the mom proud. She receives honor for what she did in and through the life of her child. She worked hard to bring about a positive result and deserves the praise.

That is what God does for us. Using His strength in and through us so that His plan is completed through His church to bring Him honor and glory. He deserves our praise.