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Who has the power to
change?
Association of Biblical
Counselors
He
is the Strong One
by John Henderson
If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! (Job 9:19)
Without a proper understanding of God and His sovereign power our counseling
with people could become strange in a hurry. A definitive exchange of power will
transpire in our hearts and minds, whereby humans and human methods are deemed
powerful shortly after God and His methods are deemed insufficient. Falsely
perceived needs and emotional desperation prompt the seeking of immediate,
human-driven relief rather than faith and rest in Almighty God. In fact, our
approaches to counseling people will probably follow an inevitable course
reflecting a specific set of beliefs:
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God and His Word are not sufficient to produce
the right kind of help and change |
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Interventions of mankind are needed to supplement or
replace God and His Word in producing the right kind of help and change
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The proper interventions must be discovered and
developed by mankind |
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The proper interventions must be applied by mankind
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The right kind of help and change is defined to
make human intervention look powerful, successful, and necessary
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The proper intervention of mankind is ascribed
the power to produce the right kind of help and change |
The course
is especially evident in Genesis 16:1-4, where Abraham and Sarah doubted the
promise and power of God before creating and embracing their own devices and
Exodus 32:1-6, where the nation of Israel doubted the presence and power of God
before creating and embracing their idolatrous golden calf.
Falsehoods about power have led to great ambiguity and anguish in the body of
Christ. The ambiguity is painfully evident in the realm of counseling the human
soul. On a daily basis, from commercials to pulpits, power is being ascribed to
one entity or another. Medication, popular books, television programs, and
possessions are ascribed the power to improve you life. Christian conferences
are ascribed the power to revolutionize your marriage or even your relationship
with Jesus Christ. Counselors and counseling are ascribed the power to change
people for the better. We have come to dispense the terms Power and Powerful as
if such titles belong to anyone or anything willing to claim them.
In Psalm 62, David recites, "Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: That
power belongs to God."1 Friends, I pray that you refuse to take the
adjective, powerful to yourself or your methods. For the word belongs to God
alone and He dispenses power to what and whom He pleases. We are wise to rest in
Him alone as the One able to grant what is needed and guard what is precious in
human life. We are wise to take note of that which God bestows His power upon
and through which His power is delivered - Namely, His Word2 and His
Gospel.3 If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one!
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1
Psalm 62:11
2 I Thessalonians 2:13; II Timothy 3:16-17; James 1:21
3 Romans 1:16
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