How Powerful Is Your God?
God the I AM. Yahweh.
He is the uncaused cause. Everything has an equal and opposite reaction, everything that is caused by something else. But God, God is the Alpha and the Omega, He just IS.
He caused everything to come into being. There is no balance between good and evil, between light and dark. God IS. The darkness and the enemy don’t even show up on the radar. Our battles aren’t struggles we have any chance of losing. He is our victory, already won.
Moses asked, “Who shall I say sent me?”
God said, “Tell them I AM that I AM sent you.”
In Hebrew and Egyptian culture, your name was your total identity. Names were vital. I am Kate, I am identified by my name. But in this ancient culture, my name would be my identity. My name, Pure (the meaning of Kate), would be my identity. I would be identified as pure. I would embody that quality.
God said “I AM” because He is the only thing that is constant, true, and above. The phrase I AM means more than what we think…it means God has always been, always will be the same. The uncreated Creator, the breather of life, the source. It’s an incredible statement that our minds can barely fathom.
The Hebrew word Yahweh is the name God uses for Himself, and part of it is I AM. It’s used over 4,000 times in the Bible, a constant remind that God himself is an absolute…He absolutely is. (read more on this)
This is truth: that God is the still the I AM for us today. That He is totally above the darkness in this world, and through Jesus, He has set us apart to also be holy and separated from darkness and sin.
And it’s possible to live this way. It is possible to be full of joy, love, kindness, gentleness, self-control….it’s possible to live in the light every day. It’s possible because the battle we face on this earth is one that is already won. It happens we begin to grasp how incredibly awesome God really is…how powerful, how just, how wonderful He is. How the darkness in this world is just part of the story of redemption and the journey back to paradise and eternity with the Creator.
Darkness is not a force to be reckoned with. This is not a war.
God knows we will struggle. He knows we face battles. Most of our battles take place in our minds, and spiritual warfare is very real.
But God is so much more powerful than any other force we come in contact with. He leveled Sodom and Gomorrah. He flooded the world. He made the sun stand still for a day. He scattered everyone on earth and gave them language. He split the sea for His people. He gave them food and water for 40 years of wandering. He built Gideon’s faith to the point where the non-warrior led only 300 men against thousands and lost nothing. He met with Abraham beneath a starry sky and called him a friend. He created everything with His words, with a notion it all began to spin and be formed into beauty.
There’s nothing more beautiful and awe inspiring than the omnipotence of God married with His devoted heart for those who long for Him and love Him.
The key to overcoming the mountains in your life is knowing God’s heart and His character. Understanding that the lies and the enemy have zero power over your mind, over you. God is the Great I Am. Mountains turn into plains before Him. His words carry such weight that thousands and thousands of years after creation, the universe is still growing and becoming.
The struggles we face are real. But we are God’s people. And He is everywhere, all powerful, and personal. At hand. Near. He is both the one we need to respect and treat with total reverence because He is so unlike us in His perfection and power, and the one who’s wings we crawl under, our safety and stronghold in times of trouble. God is the one who created me just because He wanted relationship, and He made me in His image.
There’s a whisper to surrender to Him, to willingly let go of the things we think matter. The things we grip so tightly our hands grow numb and cold and our knuckles are white. Surrender to His power, to the Great I Am.
Let this God, the I AM, be your refuge. Let Him be the place you fight from. Let Him reveal Himself to you through His word and His presence. He is absolutely everything and the only that matters.
prayer
God, You are the Great I Am. When You are near, the presence of darkness flees. I am in awe of how vast You are, and yet You love me. Not just mankind, but me. You know my heart through and through, and You care about every thought and struggle I have. You never look down on me. You are always near to me, pursuing my heart. Teach me Your ways, Yahweh. Show me Your greatness, give me more reverence for You. I want to know Your heart. I want to know You more, so much more. I know that when I ask for things, You are pleased to give them to me. Thank you for your love and Your kindness. You are so good to me. I pray this in Your name, Great I AM. AMEN.
