Day Three: Almighty in the Middle
Day Three: Almighty in the Middle
SCRIPTURE READING: Genesis 17:1; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9 (NIV)
"I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless." ... "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’"
DEVOTIONAL REFLECTION
Pay attention to when God says this name.
Not at seventy-five, when Abram was strong and the promise was fresh. Not in the delivery room a year later, holding the proof. He says it at ninety-nine, in the silence, after the failure, with nothing on the ground to show for any of it.
El Shaddai is not the name God reveals at the finish line. It is the name he speaks in the middle.
And that changes what we do with our limitations. Because most of us have quietly assumed that our limitation is the thing standing between us and whatever God wants to do with our lives. If I were younger. If I were healthier. If I had not wasted those years. If I had more margin, more money, more education, more discipline. We treat the limitation as the obstacle God needs us to clear before the real work can start.
But look at what God actually did. He never made Abraham young again. The body stayed ninety-nine. The womb stayed empty. God did not remove the limitation, he worked straight through it, on purpose, so that nobody could ever confuse his promise with Abraham’s ability.
Now put that next to Paul.
Paul had something he calls a thorn. We do not know what it was, and that is probably mercy — it lets everyone read themselves into it. He begged God three times to take it away. Three times is not a casual request. That is the same number of times Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.
And God said no.
But listen to how he said no: my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Not "I will get you out." Not "hold on until this is over." Something better and much harder, I am enough in here, and the place you are weakest is the place my strength will be most visible.
That is exactly what El Shaddai meant in a tent when a man was ninety-nine.
Be careful what you do with that, though. This is not a guarantee that every diagnosis reverses, every relationship is restored, or every door eventually opens. God has not promised us every outcome we can imagine. He has promised that no circumstance gets a vote over his purpose, and that he will not leave us alone in the meantime.
So here is the honest question for the middle you are in. Are you waiting for God to remove the limitation before you will believe he is working? Or is it possible that the thing you keep calling a roadblock is the road?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
– What limitation have I been treating as the obstacle to God’s work in me?
– What have I asked God more than once to simply take away?
– If he does not remove it, what would it look like for his strength to be visible through it instead?
– Where have I assumed that delay means nothing is happening?
– Do I want the breakthrough more than I want God himself? What is my honest answer, not my Sunday answer?
PRAYER
Almighty God, I have been waiting for you to fix the thing before I would trust you in the thing. You did not make Abraham young. You did not remove Paul’s thorn. And you were not failing either of them. Teach me to stop treating my weakness as the reason you cannot work, and let it become the place your power is obvious. Be enough in here, not just on the other side. Amen.
TODAY'S PRACTICE
Name the limitation you have most asked God to remove, a health issue, a circumstance, a season, a weakness in yourself. Then pray one sentence: "If you do not remove it, be enough in it." Notice what that costs you to say honestly. Sit with that for a minute before you move on.
SCRIPTURE READING: Genesis 17:1; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9 (NIV)
"I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless." ... "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’"
DEVOTIONAL REFLECTION
Pay attention to when God says this name.
Not at seventy-five, when Abram was strong and the promise was fresh. Not in the delivery room a year later, holding the proof. He says it at ninety-nine, in the silence, after the failure, with nothing on the ground to show for any of it.
El Shaddai is not the name God reveals at the finish line. It is the name he speaks in the middle.
And that changes what we do with our limitations. Because most of us have quietly assumed that our limitation is the thing standing between us and whatever God wants to do with our lives. If I were younger. If I were healthier. If I had not wasted those years. If I had more margin, more money, more education, more discipline. We treat the limitation as the obstacle God needs us to clear before the real work can start.
But look at what God actually did. He never made Abraham young again. The body stayed ninety-nine. The womb stayed empty. God did not remove the limitation, he worked straight through it, on purpose, so that nobody could ever confuse his promise with Abraham’s ability.
Now put that next to Paul.
Paul had something he calls a thorn. We do not know what it was, and that is probably mercy — it lets everyone read themselves into it. He begged God three times to take it away. Three times is not a casual request. That is the same number of times Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.
And God said no.
But listen to how he said no: my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Not "I will get you out." Not "hold on until this is over." Something better and much harder, I am enough in here, and the place you are weakest is the place my strength will be most visible.
That is exactly what El Shaddai meant in a tent when a man was ninety-nine.
Be careful what you do with that, though. This is not a guarantee that every diagnosis reverses, every relationship is restored, or every door eventually opens. God has not promised us every outcome we can imagine. He has promised that no circumstance gets a vote over his purpose, and that he will not leave us alone in the meantime.
So here is the honest question for the middle you are in. Are you waiting for God to remove the limitation before you will believe he is working? Or is it possible that the thing you keep calling a roadblock is the road?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
– What limitation have I been treating as the obstacle to God’s work in me?
– What have I asked God more than once to simply take away?
– If he does not remove it, what would it look like for his strength to be visible through it instead?
– Where have I assumed that delay means nothing is happening?
– Do I want the breakthrough more than I want God himself? What is my honest answer, not my Sunday answer?
PRAYER
Almighty God, I have been waiting for you to fix the thing before I would trust you in the thing. You did not make Abraham young. You did not remove Paul’s thorn. And you were not failing either of them. Teach me to stop treating my weakness as the reason you cannot work, and let it become the place your power is obvious. Be enough in here, not just on the other side. Amen.
TODAY'S PRACTICE
Name the limitation you have most asked God to remove, a health issue, a circumstance, a season, a weakness in yourself. Then pray one sentence: "If you do not remove it, be enough in it." Notice what that costs you to say honestly. Sit with that for a minute before you move on.
Posted in Daily Devotional