All-Powerful God

I have never tried this, and so I cannot back this up, but I suspect that if you asked a group of 180 adults in a church service to roam around the room and write on the walls, well, I suspect that it would not go over well.

However, in a room with 20 youth you can ask them to do just that and then magical things happen.

Monday night there were five posters on the wall each with a word or two on them. One poster read "Holy," another "All-Powerful," another "All-Knowing," then "Eternal," and finally, "Fair & Just."

The students were given two questions:

1. What comes to mind as you look at these attributes of God?
2. What does it mean to you that God is Holy, Eternal, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Fair & Just?

Then they were instructed to wander the room and write their answers on the posters.

Now, I know that often we are wired to give the answers that we think are expected. By that I mean we are prone to answering either Jesus, God, or the Bible. However, when I began to read through the responses I was encouraged by what seems to be some very heartfelt sentiment poured out.

My plan is to share with you some of what has been encouraging me from these students responses.

So, here we go...

What does it mean to you that God is All-Powerful?

"Nothing is impossible in him. He is mighty, and nothing, and no one is more powerful, and beautiful than he."

Now you might, as I did, expect someone to write "Nothing is impossible for God." But, I love the thought that nothing is impossible "in" God.

I hear "for" God and I think that God is doing all the work. I hear "with" God and I think that God and I are a team and together we're getting stuff done. He does his part, I do mine, and a great thing happens.

When I think about what it means that nothing is impossible "in" God, my mind goes somewhere new. I realize that I am the one working, but not as one works alone. My strength, task, purpose, goal, are all found in God. If I accomplish anything, it happens in God. I'm working in him and he is working in me.

I also love that this student connects God's power and beauty. I can't say that I've ever thought God's power is beautiful. I sure think that other powerful things are beautiful. Isn't that what a car show is all about: oohing and awing over a powerful engine?

Yet God's power is beautiful.

What a great couple thoughts.

What comes to mind when you think of "Nothing is impossible in God"?

And what does it mean to you that God is all-powerful?