God Does More Than We Can Imagine

Sometimes my heart and mind seem to forget the immense power and generosity of God. When facing great challenges or losses, I’m tempted to think that they are the biggest thing in my life. But God is always greater than anything happening in my life or in our world. Always.

Listen to how Paul captures this truth at the end of his prayer for the Ephesian church:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph. 3:20-21)

I love the superlative language Paul uses. God is able to do a lot. God is able to do immeasurably more than we think. If we tried to imagine the immense power and grace of God at work in our lives, we’d comprehend only the faintest hint of it.

It’s remarkable to think how the main place where God’s great and loving power is at work isn’t somewhere out there in the wide world but is right here among us and in each of our lives. The power of God is personal and present to us.

I think back to the first part of Paul’s prayer that closes with the above verses. What exactly is it that God is able to do more of than we know how to ask or are able to imagine?

• God is more than able to strengthen us inwardly and richly with Spirit-given power so that Christ may be very much at home in our hearts through our trusting friendship (Eph 3:16-17a).
• God is more than able to empower us together, from a place of deep-rootedness in love, to grasp the measureless dimensions of Christ’s love—knowing what cannot be fully comprehended (Eph 3:17b-18).
• God is more than able to fill us to the brim of all God’s fullness (Eph 3:19).

All of this leads me to pray, “Father, I try to imagine what it would look and feel like to be strengthened and empowered to these ends. Make me a person in whom Christ is very much at home. Make me someone who knows and relies on the deep, broad, lasting love of Christ. Make me a person full to overflowing of all your fullness. Amen!”

For Reflection: 

Was there a word or phrase from these lines in Ephesians that seemed to especially draw you in?  Take a moment to return to it, and see if you can repeat it a few times to commit it to memory. Then you could recall it when anxiety or fear or some other impulse tempts you to minimize God’s active and loving power in your life.

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Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash