John of the Cross – Ephesians 6:10-17

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.”(Ephesians 6:10, NRSV)

In a culture of being expected to be strong in our own power, these words strike us as strange. Considering just this first sentence, what is the strength of his power? So much of what we do, both physically and spiritually, we expect to do by our own power, and we know this does not always work. In Psalm 125, the writer asserts that for those who trust in the power of the Lord, that power is sufficient to surround them to the point that evil cannot make them” …stretch out their hands to do wrong.” Have we ever thought about calling on God for that much of His power? What if, every day, we relied on God’s power for our strength, and ignored our society’s insistence that we are weak, and maybe less human, unless we do everything in our own power?

Lord, give us your power for our strength! Amen.

– Mary Parrish, St. Thomas Episcopal Church