God’s Power

We were on a family Zoom call a few weeks ago and Ken’s sister ,who lives in Colorado, was sharing about the crazy weather they were having.

They were in the middle of a fierce thunderstorm and the clouds had settled in the valley below where they live. The timing between lightning and thunder was zero seconds! She said that it was a little unnerving. They felt like they had to keep ducking! God was showing off His power!

Psalm 97:1-5 talks about God’s power:

The Lord is king!

   Let the earth rejoice!

   Let the farthest coastlands be glad.

Dark clouds surround him.

   Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire spreads ahead of him

   and burns up all his foes.

His lightning flashes out across the world.

   The earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

   before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness;

   every nation sees his glory.

- Psalm 97:1-5

God is hidden in the mystery of clouds and thick darkness, unquenchable fire proceeds Him, lightning and thunder manifest Him… the magnificent sovereignty of God.

BUT, His sovereignty is not based on destruction. His sovereignty is found in righteousness and justice. God’s character is shown in His mercy and truth!

The second part of the Psalm, verses 7-9, shows how both nature and humans respond to God’s glory. Nature proclaims God’s righteousness, but we, as humans, often have a mixed response. We know God is powerful, but we forget. We have too many idols we’d rather worship: social media, approval from people, celebrities, substance abuse, and the list goes on.

We can’t see God because these things are blocking our view!

Bishop Phineas Chauke from South Africa told us after visiting California, that he’d rather lead a church in poverty, than one around all the distractions we have here. There’s a lot of truth to that. We get easily distracted!!

But a  “Go First” Leader follows the example of verses 10-12 that says:

You who love the Lord, hate evil!

   He protects the lives of his godly people

   and rescues them from the power of the wicked.

Light shines on the godly,

   and joy on those whose hearts are right.

May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord.

- Psalm 97:10-12

Friends, let’s put down our idols! By God’s power and strength, we can have emotional health, sexual wholeness, spiritual depth, relational connection, and a purposeful vocation! Let’s “Go First!”

Pastor Pam