Much More Than a Wish

Saturday - January 29th

Scripture to Read Today: Ephesians 1:15-23

---

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you...and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians 1:18-19

"As you wish!" If you are a fan of the movie The Princess Bride, you can hear the hero,

Westley, saying those words as he rolls down the hill. The 1987 film spoof of happily-ever-after movies by Rob Reiner acquired a fan base with a cult-like following. You either really like The Princess Bride, or you don't. I do. My wife, Lesli, does not.

Maybe I like it because I love a good spoof movie that pokes fun at some popular blockbuster or a whole genre of well-liked movies. Princess Bride's "As you wish!" gets a good laugh several times in the film from the silliness and sappiness of wishing amid dark and overwhelming circumstances the characters face. Various popular princess genre movies make simplistic "wishing" the secret to victory over darkness and living in happiness.

When Paul writes to the believers in the first-century church of Ephesus, "wishing" is the farthest thing from His mind. Instead, he speaks of praying to God for the Ephesian Christians (Ephesians 1:16). Praying to God secures much more than wishing into thin air. Paul says that he prays they would have both the hope and power of God (Ephesians 1:18-19). He knows they don't live in a fairytale world; they live in the real world. He knows only God can provide them the strength and peace they need to thrive and flourish in life.

Paul prayed they would know both the HOPE and the POWER of the Lord! We have much more than a wish when we embrace both the HOPE and the POWER offered to us in Christ. Someone has said that "hope is faith on its tippy toes."

Hope rests secure in what it believes and anticipates that the object of that faith will be proven true. So, like a child standing on her tippy toes to peer out a window expecting something great, we hope in our God! We expectantly believe He will care for and bless us - no matter what intimidates or concerns us in life.

The Apostle Paul prayed that his brothers and sisters in Christ at Ephesus would embrace more than hope. He prayed they would also embrace God's "incomparably great power for us who believe" (Ephesians 1:19). Hope allows us to expectantly believe God knows what is best for us and will do that for us. The power Paul talks about in Ephesians 1:19-20 is the key to that hope being realized. Paul uses four different Greek words for God's strength, power, and might in these verses. In doing so, he emphasizes that God's power lacks nothing.

Ultimately, the Apostle says that we can hope in God because God's power raised Jesus from the dead, seated Him at the Father's right hand, and gave Him authority over all the universe. He says that same power is the power God will use as He determines what is best for us as we face life's toughest challenges.

We hope in God. We hope in God's power. We hope in God's power that conquered the grave, death, and hell itself. That is much more than a wish!

Get on your tippy-toes and believe God has the best in store for you, and rest in His ability to do what is best for you!