Can’t Box Him In

Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.  Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, great are you purposes and mighty are you deeds.

Jeremiah 32:17 & 18 NIV

Heroes, how we like to put them on a pedestal, celebrate their accomplishments, and believe the best in them. Human beings that they are, they just cannot all live up to our expectations. Even the human biblical heroes had their limits.

Adam and Eve, the first humans we hear about in the book of Genesis. They lived in a wonderful garden and fellowshipped with God, but sneaky Satan got them to look at that forbidden fruit and they fell for his lies. He must have jumped for joy until God gave out the consequences for their disobedience not in Satan’s favor, but in God’s.

Samson in the book of Judges had incredible strength because of his long hair until he allowed a woman to get in between him and God’s plan for his life. He lost his God-given power when she cut his hair. Once again, the enemy Satan must have cheered, but Samson’s hair grew back and God allowed his power to as well.

Peter, a disciple of Jesus, such a great follower, still denied him. That must have thrilled Satan. But God even forgave Peter and he became a man of much greater faith.

Then Satan went after Jesus, God’s Son. He tried to tempt him. It did not work so, somehow, he thought killing Jesus’s physical body on the cross would crush the redemptive power of God. Jesus’s blood on the cross and his resurrection from the dead dispelled Satan’s myth completely.

Satan is powerless against God. God already won the battle and the war. No one and nothing can ever box God in.

Father, we celebrate the All-powerful God you are. We praise you for your wonderful deeds. Thank you for crushing Satan and offering us redemption.

Susan Partida