God May Restrain His Power, But It's Never Lacking

1 Samuel 5-7

When my son was in kindergarten or first grade, he had a twelfth-grade boy as an aide in P.E. This guy was in the youth group at our church and my dad was the youth director. He came in one night and told my dad that he was going to have to beat my son at tetherball if he didn't quit bragging to all his friends.

I mentioned this to my son the other day and he said he remembered playing tetherball with this guy every day. He really thought he was better than him and he did brag to his friends. Then one day while they were playing, this guy finally hit the ball really hard, and it hit my son right in the face. He felt horrible and even the teachers asked him why he would do something like that.

As my son was reciting the story back to me, he laughed and said, "Mom, he told them he didn't mean to and he definitely didn't mean to hurt me. I know he felt bad about it. But he did mean to hit it that hard. Apparently, he was tired of me thinking that I could beat him, and he wanted to show me that he could hit it hard if he wanted to."

Obviously, my son was right. One hit from a six-foot, eighteen-year-old boy would have gone right over the head of a five-year-old. He couldn't play him fair and square or there wouldn't have been a game. But, from my son's perspective, he was stronger and better than a Senior in High School. He couldn't see his power, not because the guy didn't have any, but because he was restraining it to be nice to a little kid.

Letting Them Win

This is exactly what happened in the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines when Eli's sons were serving as priests. God let the Philistines win to teach His people a lesson. Then, once they learned it, they were more victorious than when they were sinning against God without consequence. God let the priests be killed and the Philistines take the ark so the people would turn to Him. If they hadn't been taken, the people might not have changed their ways and found peace in the land.

God knows what He's doing. When He restrains His power, it’s for a reason. We might be tempted to think He's powerless when we ask for something that we think is good and He gives us something different. But the problem is, what seems good to us, may not actually be the best thing. We think we know what is good, but God actually knows. Also, what looks like a defeat to us, is always a win to God. He’s always victorious. His losses are always purposeful, just like they were with the Israelites.       

In a game with our children, it may be necessary to let them win, especially when they're really small. But in the game of life, God knows that we won't really be victors if we always win. We learn much more from our losses than we do from our victories. This is where we find out what we're doing wrong. So, if there is a lesson to be learned, God may restrain His power so we can learn what we might not otherwise learn. But that doesn't mean His power is lacking.

God's Power

God isn't any less powerful today than He was when He created heaven and earth with just a word.

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11:3

He still has the power to fight our battles and bring a great victory.

If God is for us, who can be against us? In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:31, 37

He still has the power to perform miracles.

To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Ephesians 3:20

When God Looks Powerless in Your Life

So, if you're ever wondering why God isn't showing Himself, instead of doubting His power, ask yourself why. He has a reason.

If your victory looks more like a defeat or God seems silent in your struggle, stop and ask yourself: Is God trying to teach me something? Do I have the wrong idea of what victory is in this situation? If He wants you to learn something, He will not hide it. If you are seeking His way, He will guide you.

Then, if you are just thinking about the situation all wrong, ask Him to help you see it His way. Sometimes this is an immediate epiphany and other times it's a process. You may initially ask and not think you receive an answer. But as time goes on, you realize that you feel differently than you did before. Sometimes, He just works on hearts and make them align with His.

Now, there also may be times when He withholds His power, and you ask Him why, and you don't receive an answer. The lesson may be nothing other than learning to blindly trust Him. He may just be testing you to see if you will believe in His power even though you don't see it. He may just want you to trust that He knows what He's doing and that He loves you, even though you don't understand.

But rest assured that whether you see His power or not, it is not lacking. It is greater than you can fathom. So, trust Him even when you can't see Him working.

PS

Though God let the Philistines win, there was no way He could let them think that their god was more powerful than Him. So, He actually forced their god to bow down to Him and sent on plague on the people. They eventually had to acknowledge God's power and humble themselves before Him, too. God has a sense of humor for sure. Though the Israelites couldn't see His power, He revealed it to the Philistines in a mighty way. In the end, there was no doubt by either side whose god was the most powerful.

Links

This is inspired by “God's Supremacy” when God let the Philistines win the battle to teach His people a lesson in 1 Samuel 5-7. You can Watch or Listen to it on YouTube, Podcast, or study it on Substack. 

You can Watch or Listen to all recent and future blog posts as devotions on LivethruJesus Weekly Devotions Channel on Podcast or YouTube or to receive the blog posts by email become a free subscriber.