#23 Gods Power In Me
Time Stamps
00:00 - Welcome from Matt and Sadaf
04:05 - Talk: The Power That Works In Me with Anna Kettle
09:39 - God's Power vs Society's Self-Reliance
14:16 - When God's Power Shows Up Differently Than Expected
21:27 - Finding Peace in Life's Challenging Seasons
31:33 - Conversation Street: The Tension Between Acceptance and Fight
38:12 - Living With God's Power In Everyday Life
When Self-Reliance Isn't Enough: God's Power At Work Within Us
Ever felt like you're reaching the end of your rope? Like despite your best efforts to hold everything together, your strength just isn't enough?
This Sunday, Anna Kettle continued our "Becoming Whole" series, exploring how God's power working in us transforms the way we face life's challenges. Drawing from Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, she revealed how this divine power offers something our self-reliant culture desperately needs but can't produce on its own.
The Self-Reliance Myth
"Our society tells us that the way to get on in life, the way to succeed, is through self-reliance," Anna observed. "That you can't really rely on anyone else...you need to be self-reliant."
This mindset creates a driven culture where we constantly push ourselves and others to achieve more, often to the point of burnout. We work longer hours, take on more responsibilities, and pride ourselves on our independence – because that's what success looks like, right?
But here's the uncomfortable truth: At some point, our desire to overcome challenges will exceed our human capacity. We're simply not designed to handle everything on our own strength.
As Anna pointed out, "Even the most talented, most gifted individuals get to the end of themselves. Sometimes we all need a power that is greater than ourselves."
God's Power Looks Different Than We Expect
When we think about "power," we often imagine strength, force, or as Anna put it, "sheer bloody-mindedness." But God's power often manifests in ways that seem counterintuitive to our human understanding.
Anna highlighted Paul's experience in 2 Corinthians, where he describes his "thorn in the flesh" – a problem or weakness he couldn't overcome despite repeatedly asking God to remove it. God's response? "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
This reveals something profound: Sometimes God's power isn't about removing our problems but equipping us to face them with supernatural resources. As Anna explained, "Often God's power at work in our lives looks like us taking a problem to him and him just giving us that supernatural patience or endurance that we might need."
God's power might show up as:
Peace in the middle of chaos
Joy despite difficult circumstances
Hope for the future even during present suffering
Strength to endure what we could never handle on our own
A Personal Glimpse of God's Power
Anna vulnerably shared her own experience of loss, describing how last year she and her husband lost a baby – not their first such loss. A friend who had experienced similar losses commented that Anna seemed "really at peace with the situation" despite the disappointment.
"It wasn't that I wasn't grieving or feeling sad," Anna explained, "because those are really natural and normal human responses to loss." Rather, it was about "knowing God's presence with us in the middle of it that is really transforming."
This exemplifies the promise found in Philippians 4:7, that God offers "peace that passes all understanding" – not an absence of difficult emotions, but a deep sense that God remains in control and still has good plans for our future, even when life doesn't unfold as we expected.
From Conversation Street: The Tension Between Acceptance and Fight
During Conversation Street, Matt and Sadaf explored a fascinating tension that emerges when we face ongoing challenges: When do we accept our circumstances as they are, and when do we keep fighting for breakthrough?
Looking at Paul's example, Matt noted that the apostle didn't immediately resign himself to his "thorn in the flesh." Scripture tells us he pleaded with God three times to remove it, showing persistence and faith rather than passive acceptance.
"There seemed to be a persistence, there seemed to be a patience, there seemed to be an endurance, there seemed to be a willingness to fight," Matt observed.
This creates a delicate balance for believers: trusting God's sufficiency while still believing for breakthrough. As Sadaf pointed out, "A lot of it means waiting on the Lord... sometimes it's a yes, sometimes it's a no, sometimes it's a wait."
Perhaps most insightfully, Sadaf added that this tension is actually fertile ground for spiritual growth: "That's where you are probably being stretched and grown the most spiritually, because of that tension."
The Power That's Available to You
Anna concluded her talk by returning to Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, which reveals that God's power isn't just barely sufficient – it's "exceedingly abundant" and "surpasses all that we could possibly ask for or imagine."
This means that as a believer, you're not limited by your own strength, resources, or knowledge. You have access to divine power that can transform your life and circumstances, giving you a supernatural ability to face whatever challenges come your way.
As Matt reflected during Conversation Street, this resurrection power – "the same power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead" – lives inside every believer. This power doesn't guarantee we'll never face difficulties, but it ensures we never face them alone or without divine resources.
Your Next Step
As we continue our journey toward wholeness, consider these questions:
Where in your life are you relying solely on your own strength rather than God's power?
What challenge are you facing that feels beyond your capacity to handle?
How might God be wanting to demonstrate His power through your weakness rather than by removing it?
Remember, true wholeness isn't about having everything sorted in your life. It's about being connected to the source of all power and allowing Him to work through you, especially in those areas where you feel most inadequate.
"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." (Ephesians 3:20-21)
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