S5 E22 - Kerr County: The One Whose Words Hold Power

My mind has been on the residents of Kerr County all week, after the flash flooding and mass devastation that has occured. 120 are confirmed dead with 170 still missing. I cannot imagine that kind of loss. My words can do little to help them or make things better...but I can direct my words to the One who can. 

God's words have power. He has the power to create and sustain. The power over nature, and even by his mere word he has the power over life and death. So please - serve, give, and love those who are suffering - but don't forget to pray. Pray is not the lease we can do, it's appealing to the one who can do the most. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

The past week, my mind has been more than likely what everyone else’s minds have been consumed with as well – the flooding down in Kerr County Texas and the surrounding areas. Flash flooding is a dangerous event no matter when it occurs, but what took place there is of near biblical proportions. In what they are calling a once in a thousand-year kind of event, in the time span of just 45 minutes the water rose over twenty-five feet high. As a result, the death toll has been unbelievable. As of yesterday, there have been nearly 120 deaths reported so far on account of the flood waters – 60 being adults and 40 being children. Many of which, 27 exactly, came from the youth Bible Camp Mystic right beside the Guadalupe River. As of this afternoon, 173 people are still missing and active searches are being made for them. The likelihood that nearly 300 lives might end up being claimed in total by these floods is becoming more of a devastating reality with each passing minute. Throughout the week, images of the faces of young children lost in the roaring currents were burned into my mind as more and more reports came out. I couldn’t help but weep for the parents who now have to bury their children, or for the parents who are still with very little hope doing everything they can to find their missing children. I couldn’t help but weep for the families that have lost a father, a mother, or a sibling in this sudden and unexpected travesty. To say that Kerr County will never be the same would be the understatement of the century. 

I have struggled a lot this week with this topic, going back and forth on what to say if I did say anything at all – because mere words are not enough. Words cannot bring back the lives that have been lost. Words cannot adequately bring total comfort to those who are grieving catastrophic loss in their life. Words cannot turn back the hands of time, repair broken streets and homes, or mend the broken hearts of the good people of Texas. And that is what I really wanted to share today…because everything I just stated is true. My words hold little to no power, because I am merely a man. But there is one whose words hold tremendous power. Whose words spoke life into existence. Whose words will one day raise us from the dead, and either sentence us to eternal condemnation or eternal glory. The one I am speaking of is of course the Creator of this world – our God and our King. 

It's been said that prayer is not the least we can do, but it is the most that we can do. I am in full agreement with this statement, not to neglect any other responsibilities we may have in the face of crisis, but to draw attention to the One who can truly do the most. I was reminded by a dear friend a few weeks ago of the following truth: “prayer is the absolute best thing we can do for others, because we are appealing to the One with the power to do more in a moment than we ever could in a lifetime of service.” This truth is demonstrated in the text of James 5:16-18, where James writes, “The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.” Elijah was a human, a mere man just as we are. His words had little to no power, but he appealed to the one whose words did. He petitioned the Most High God, who in turn acted with power in accordance to Elijah’s prayer. Truly, James is right, the prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. I will add the following clarification: we cannot simply manifest things into existence. Simply because we pray for something does not necessarily mean it will happen – we understand and submit to the will and rule of God in our prayers. But if we truly understand the power of God, then in times of crisis like we have seen, in addition to service and encouragement, the very first thing we will do is go to Him in prayer. 

The Words of God have the power to create. God spoke creation into existence according to the account given to us in Genesis 1-2. We read in Psalm 33:6-9, “The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the water of the sea into a heap; he puts the depths into storehouses. Let the whole earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came into being; he commanded, and it came into existence.” If God spoke all things into existence from nothing in the very beginning, is anything then impossible for him? While we become overwhelmed by the worries and struggles of this world, there is nothing that is too big, too difficult, or too overwhelming for our God. He is the Creator – and when he speaks, it happens. 

The Words of God have the power to sustain. While it was by the very mouth of God that the world came into being, it is by those same words that the world continues to be held together. We read in Hebrews 1:2-3, “In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” If  God holds this entire universe together by his mere words and sustains all life, do we doubt that he can hold us together and sustain us in times of difficulty? We go to God in prayer, asking him to hold us and sustain us when we feel like everything is falling apart, just as Peter reminds us, “casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” (1 Pet. 5:7)

The Words of God have the power over nature. Not only did God create life and continues to sustain life through his words, but at the mere spoken word of the Creator, the creation bows and submits to his will. While we already considered this in part with Elijah praying for rain and drought, consider the interaction between Jesus and his disciples while on the Sea of Galilee. While in a great storm upon a boat, the disciples wake Jesus because they believe they are all about to die. That is when the text tells us, “He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” (Mark 4:39-41) Tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes, and things like these demonstrate incredible power far beyond our imagination – and in their wake often comes devastation and destruction. And yet, even those bow the knee and submit in an instant at the mere utterance of God’s instruction. This is the power behind the God we serve, he is far greater than any demonstration of power we see on this earth. 

The Words of God have the power even over life and death. It was by the words of Jesus, “Lazarus, come out!” that a man who had been dead for days would rise up and walk out of his tomb in John 11:43-44. It was by the words of Jesus, “Talitha, Cumi” which translate, “little girl, I say to you, get up!” that Jairus’ daughter would come back to life in Mark 5:41.  It was by the words of Jesus, “Young man, get up!” to a widow’s son in Nain that the man would sit up in his coffin and begin to speak once again! And my friends, it is by the words of Jesus that we too will rise from the dead. We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, “For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” At the voice of Jesus, the graves will empty. At the voice of Jesus, we will rise. 

My friends, this is the power of the God we serve. Our words hold little power, but we can use to them to appeal to the One whose words hold all authority. Prayer is never the least we can do, it is the very best that we can do. I urge you to pray. I urge you to petition our great God and Creator. In the face of hardship, love/serve/and give…but never, ever neglect or forget to pray. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 22 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.