Almighty For You

For 13 years Abram was convinced Ishmael was God’s way! Until God breaks in…. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. Genesis 17:1

God’s redirection for Abram’s life started by revealing a new aspect of His character. Knowing God as the Almighty is a great comfort when He calls us to new steps of obedience, particularly when they are difficult and painful steps.

This is the Bible’s first use of the name El Shaddai, the Almighty, The Most Powerful. El Shaddai combines words meaning who and enough to remind Abram, and us, that we are dealing with The God who is enough.

This Almighty, however, wasn’t distant, but up close and personal. It was a name that said, “I am the “Can Do God”, I am Almighty for you. I am Almighty to love you, care for you, choose you, protect you, prosper you, challenge you. I am Almighty to solve the difficulties that you seem to think you are having in your walk of faith. I am the Almighty who can enable you to obey when it is difficult. God says I’m sufficient, when you are weak, frail, and fearful.

Whenever God’s servants are hard-pressed and needing reassurance, God appears as the Almighty…The God of the impossible, the God beyond our wildest dreams, able to work in us way beyond what we would ask or expect, and even beyond nature.

And, when we get a new view of the God of the Impossible, when our life intersects with Him, He will radically change our lives.

Most mornings Carol will tell me about the name of God that she is focusing on for that day. El Elyon, El Shaddai, Jehovah Nissei, Each of God’s names focus on some aspect of His character. Each name calls us to trust Him in a new way in this daily, on-going walk of faith. It is a great practice…getting a new view of God for every day.

How are you experiencing God today? How is He appearing to you? Sometimes He appears to me as provider, sometimes as challenger, rebuker, or comforter. Sometimes He appears as angry father because I’ve messed up and hurt myself, but other times as a loving father, Almighty, all sufficient, all knowing, all forgiving.

The key is…the God who assigns us difficult tasks, Who calls us to walk the road of the cross, Who calls us to turn our backs on the deadends in which we have invested years of our lives, this God is sufficient to be what we need. We can trust the Almighty enough to follow Him.

And, that’s what turned Abram into an Abraham.