God's Awesome Power!

On the Saturday morning at a recent Above Rubies camp I set off to the beach for an early morning walk. At one stage I stood still and gazed out to sea. The tide was coming and the thunderous roar of the waves was so loud that every other sound was swallowed up and lost within the bowels of the sea.

The spray caused by this mighty power rose high into the sky where beautiful colours of light from the dawn of the new day filtered through. Roll after roll of crashing waves rushed toward the beach. They gathered momentum until they reached their appointed place and then returned and started all over again - never ending, repeating the same scenario over and over and over again.

I was held captive by the sheer majesty and the awesome power of God’s workmanship. I felt privileged that God would show off His awesome power and the majestic handiwork of His creation to puny me. My heart rose within my breast. I opened my mouth and in full volume sang "My God is an awesome God."

On returning to my cabin I could not get the vision from my mind or the mighty sound from my ears. Although I have often witnessed and been inspired the many moods of the sea I had never been so moved.

As I meditated on my message to speak to the ladies that morning, God gave me a revelation. To share this revelation I needed some of the sea so I asked Della to fetch me some in a bottle. I was rather disappointed because when I put it side by side with a glass of water from the tap, it looked just the same. It smelled just the same. You could not tell the difference! In fact, it was not possible to tell the difference until you tasted it!

When the sea is in the sea it has an awesome power. You can see it is the sea, you can smell it is the sea and you can feel the granules of salt because the sea is always alive and moving. However, the moment you take the sea from its rightful, God-ordered place it loses its awesome power and blends in with the rest of its surroundings.

It is no longer unique, no longer set apart, no longer special. The thunderous sound of its roar is silenced. The awesome display of power and movement is immediately lost. The explosion sending the spray skyward to reach great and awesome heights is stilled. The forward thrust of the incoming tide that spewed out the dross, leaving its deposit on the beach is not just weak, it is non existent!

And so it is with us handmaidens, wives, mothers, grandmothers, and homemakers. When we are out of our God-ordered place that He has specifically ordained and provided for us we lose our God given power. On the outside we may look the same but we lose our full destiny.

The reason the sea is so powerful is because it is in the sea. And God is there. A wife and mother wields her true power when she is in her home, where her heart is beating strongly, gathering momentum as she trains and prepares her children to reach out into all the world. She is submitting to God’s laws - and God is there.

The sea, when removed by man, can be used in powerful ways, but they are man’s ways. It is the power of man and his power is weak! Likewise, when we leave the home by force or enticement to pursue outside ministries and careers we can generate a certain amount of power, but it is the power of man. We have forsaken or exchanged the awesome, majestic, power of God for the puny power of man. Proverbs says 16:25 says, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof is the way of death."

If we want to turn our hearts, our church, our community, our nation, our world back to God’s ways, then we need to open our eyes and behold the source of our power. Like the sea, whose origin comes from God and who set it in its appointed place, so it is with us! We find our true power and glory as women and mothers when we remain within the environment created for us.

Of course there will be times when we are called by the Lord to reach out to perform certain chosen and even exciting tasks to help and bless others. But like the sea we will always return so we can regather and recharge only to be sent out again and again. From the heart of our home, we will find and fulfil our true destiny.

Will we be wives and mothers full of the power of God or weakened by the power and reasoning of man?

VAL STARES

Toowoomba, Australia

Val is the Director for Above Rubies in Australia.