God “is” “Able”. “Is” meaning ; “existing in this moment of time“, and “the substance, characteristics, and/or character of a thing”. God “is” a “right now”, “in this moment” God; alive, active and available to us. His “substance”, “characteristics”, and “character” is “Able”.But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,…..” Hebrews 11:6
What do we think of when we consider the word “able”? “Are they ‘able’ to………..?” There are many words that come to mind: capable, skill, ability, competence, provision, qualified; as well as the question “Do they have the strength, power, and authority to accomplish it?”
I want to briefly look at two extreme examples of people who believed that God is “able”.
Daniel 3:13-17 (NKJV)
13-15 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?”
16-17 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
“…And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said “… our God whom we serve is able…”
Daniel 3:23-25 (NKJV)
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, placed their lives on the line because they believed their God was “able”.
God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son and a “multitude of descendants” through him, and although Abraham was 99 years old, Sarah was 90, and they were still childless, Romans 4:19-21 (NKJV) states; “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”
Abraham was “fully convinced” that God “was able” to perform what He had promised. Years after their son Isaac was born, God told Abraham to sacrifice his “only son”, through whom no descendants had yet been produced. How would he respond to this decision?
“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.” Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJV)
Abraham was determined to proceed with sacrificing Isaac because he was still “fully convinced” that God “was able” to fulfill His promise of descendants through Isaac, even if it meant that God would have to raise Isaac from the dead. This would be quite a feat because God had told Abraham to offer Isaac as a “burnt offering”, reducing him to a pile of ashes. Even with this in mind, Abraham still considered that God was “able”!
What decisions and/or situations are you facing today? Trust Him; He is “ABLE”!
Our concept of His “isness”; the manner in which we define His nature, substance, characteristics, and character, and the way we “receive” His “isness” into our life and depend on (have faith in) it, will be the role that we “anticipate/expect” or “will allow” God to play in our lives.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,…..” God “is” “Able”.
*** Fred Wilson *** is an author, former coach, teacher and Life and Liberty News Contributor.
