Is God Really Omnipotent? I Wonder...

One of the cornerstones of Christian theology is that God is omnipotent, all-powerful. But I remember coming to a different conclusion thanks to a lesson I learned from my son when he was about two-years old. I realized that I could not actually MAKE Christopher do what I wanted; that he would always choose what to do based on criteria some of which I had little control over. I could only set out the consequences for a given decision. From that point on, I tried to approach my children with the attitude, "how can I motivate them to choose correctly?"

I eventually realized that this condition also applies to my own life, that God can't MAKE me do anything. If I don't want to, or believe I can't, that's it. Game over, I "win." I can "beat" God at this game every time. Of course technically, one could argue that this doesn't really count as an inability on God's part, but an unwillingness on mine. This may be true, but the outcome is the same. God will not do in our lives what we believe He cannot do.

When I was a child, I wanted to be an international spy roaming the great countries of the world singlehandedly solving crime and defeating international evil. For a while, I wanted to be a fireman, running into burning buildings, saving beautiful women and babies. I also wanted to be an astronaut, exploring space and other planets. I'm sure some of you had similar goals when you were young.

But as people grow, the goals we had in childhood change. Some become impractical (very little chance of single-handedly conquering "international evil"), others less desirable (fire is HOT and did you know that you can't breathe smoke?). And some goals well, you just didn't understand. I mean, exploring space? Hey, space is big, I mean REALLY BIG. You may thing it's a long way to the neighborhood McDonald's, but that's just PEANUTS to space. (1) 

But the worst kind of demise a goal can suffer is the slow death by our own hand, well words really. The progression from "I will!" to "maybe I can" to "I probably can't" to simply "I can't" quietly lays goals to rest in graves of limitations that we have dug with our own words. "I can't."

So, God is omnipotent, all powerful. Well, sort of. God can do anything He wants. Well, mostly. There is one thing that God's unlimited power cannot do. He cannot overcome the "I can'ts" that we hold on to in our lives and we will be right. If we truly believe we can't accomplish something, nothing God will, not "can't" but "will" do can change that. He works through imperfect vessels by choice and as odd as it may sound, He is bound by that choice to the limitations of the vessel: us.

So, is there no hope of miracles? Is God to be rendered powerless in the world by our limitations? Of course not. As vessels, we must come to know that our limitations are really "invitations." Just because we can't doesn't mean God won't, we need to trust that His omnipotence can conquer our "I can'ts". As we come to understand our limitations, we can begin to recognize the ones that would be possible with God's omnipotent power. When we see "impossible to accomplish" as merely "need God's help here" then we know what we can expect God to do. I love CS Lewis' statement "We are what we believe we are." Wow, there is so much power in those 7 simple words.

When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses said "I can't" talk, "I can't" throw down my rod, "I can't" make them listen to me. But eventually Aaron would speak, Moses laid down his rod before God and when he picked it up again, it was no longer the rod of Moses it had become the Rod of God. Using that rod, everyone heard God through Moses. 

A friend of mine tells the story of when he set out to paint his fence. His young son enthusiastically asked if he could help. Ken said that the boy could help and got him a brush. By the time Ken had finished the entire fence, the boy had only done a couple of fence slats, and those not very well. When they went into the house, the lad excitedly told his mom "Me and dad painted the fence!" When Ken heard this he smiled and a still, small voice say, "That is the way of things with you and Me." 

God doesn't need our help. He doesn't need our money. He doesn't need our ideas (which explains why I haven't won the lottery!). What He needs are willing hands excited about "helping" God paint the fence. He does things through us because we need to do things with him. It deepens our relationship, stretches our faith, and pushes us out of our comfort zone. We must come to realize that we are more than the sum of our limitations; we are miracles waiting to happen.

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1) the "space" quote was taken loosely from a passage in The Hitchiker's Guide to the Universe, by Douglas  Adams.