"I Will"

 

    With God, character trumps power.

 

     "And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing" (I Corinthians 13:2).

 

     It is a wonderful thing to know that the Lord can, and to be increasingly aware of "the exceeding greatness of His power" (Ephesians 1:19).  We will forever praise Him and be awed by the mighty arm of the God who "doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number" (Job 9:10).  Such confidence forms a vital aspect of our faith and confidence in consistently approaching the One we believe possesses the ability to do something about the issues of our lives.

 

    However, a being who possessed the infinite power of "I can," but who lacked the sublime heart that beats within the bosom of Scripture's God would be a terrible and horrible reality.  "I will" declared the Lord Jesus Christ to the leper who expressed the hopeful plea, "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean" (Mark 1:40).  Thus, we may rest our hearts in the safe haven of the God who is "mighty to save," but even more, in the God "who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth (Isaiah 63:1; I Timothy 2:4).  He can, and He will.

 

    We could never love one who possessed power without character.  Only love begets love.  "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).  Furthermore, our primary responsibility in life commands that we love God and others (Matthew 22:36-40).  Thus, the great adventure of our existence calls us to venture far into our Lord's heart on an eternal quest to explore a goodness that even eternity will not allow us to fully discover.  The further we go, however, and the more we "behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord," the more we are "changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18).  Yes, with God, character trumps power.  But it also transforms the beholder into the likeness of the Lord who so loves us that He does the very best thing for us His heart could conceive...

 

"For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

(Romans 8:29)

"Thy gentleness hath made me great."

(Psalm 18:35)