"Then Job answered the LORD and said: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You” (Job 42:1–2).
By examining God’s names, we have learned that He is all-sufficient, sovereign over all creation, and unified with many characteristics. God is also all-powerful. The name that represents His omnipotence is the Hebrew El-Shaddai. God made Himself known by this name to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It means “He who is sufficient,” “the thunderer,” and “the overpowerer.”
God revealed time and again His absolute power over all creation. God revealed Himself to Moses as sufficient in power to do all that He had promised His people (Num. 11:23). Unfortunately, God’s people do not always trust in His ability to overcome our foes. Like Moses, we allow ourselves to be intimidated by the strength of our enemies. We project our weaknesses and impotency onto God. This is offensive to God because He is more than able to defeat those who stand against Him. As we have learned in our study of the Psalms, He laughs at those who oppose Him and scoffs at their vain efforts to overcome His power.
A right understanding of God’s power should not only comfort us, but should cause us to humble ourselves before Him. When Peter witnessed Jesus’ power in catching an abundance of fish, he humbled himself before Him and even asked Jesus to go away from him because of his unworthiness. Because God is able to do all He has promised, we should trust Him in humility.
God’s people struggle with doubts about God because they do not truly believe or know that He is able to do what He says. We are like the disciples, tossed about on the unruly waves amid a storm. Instead of having faith that Christ can do all things, we are afraid. We may have faith that God can save us for eternity, but we allow the trials and sufferings of our everyday lives to cause us to doubt God.
When we worship God, we should strive to remove all doubt and put our trust wholly in Him because with God all things are possible. He is able to keep us from falling and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. “To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, and power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Jude 25).
Memorize and meditate on Jude 24–25. Think about each characteristic attributed to God in this inspired doxology. How does God’s power and authority relate to your security in salvation? Next time you worship, use this passage to prepare your heart to praise His glorious power.
