By Shannon Marshall

A friend of mine who lives in New Orleans borrowed my generator because he had no electrical power at his house due to Hurricane Ida. He can’t wait to bring my generator back because that will mean his electrical power is back on. Generator power is usually a temporary solution for when the power goes out at our homes. We don’t want to make using a generator for power a long term solution.

There are multiple sources of power. There is electrical power. There is legislative power.    We can not rely on temporary power because it is insufficient power. For far to long we have listened to what others told the church about power. We need to realize the uncommon power God has for the church.

Paul told the Christians at Ephesus about the power God has and had for them. Paul wrote, “That you may know…what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” (Ephesians 1: 18-19) The word Paul used for “exceeding” is the word from which we get the word hyperbole. A hyperbole is describing a shooting beyond the target. We use a hyperbole when we say, our Kid, “hit it a mile,” Paul knew his attempts to describe God’s power needed to go beyond what he said about His power. It is time we let God show the power He has for the church.

We can’t reduce God’s power but we have reduced how we think about God’s power. Two major things reduce our relying on God’s power. First, we listen to the world’s power. The things the world doesn’t have the power to change we accept as  unchangeable. God has the power to bring change to situations no matter how powerless we are. Second, we live in the religious power. Religious power is listening to what someone else has experienced but one hasn’t experienced it for themselves. Experience God’s power for yourself. Request God’s power and receive God’s power!