Love and Power

One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: "Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love"; and, "You reward everyone according to what they have done." (Psalm 62:11-12 NIV)

We often think of God's love as being separate from his power. Some even believe in God's love but doubt his power. So to answer the question - why does God allow suffering? They would say God is not powerful enough to do anything about it. Meanwhile others believe in God's power but won't let themselves be vulnerable enough to experience God's love. However the Bible teaches that God is both loving and powerful.

The world would have us believe that love is mere physical attraction or being pleasant to people when we'd rather not or overlooking another's shortcomings. But God's love is not so shallow. God takes the initiative to pursue the people he made. He is passionate about reaching them even when they show very little interest in him. He went to enormous lengthens to reconcile them to himself by means of the cross.

We see God's power throughout the Gospels as he healed and freed many. Several attempts were made to kill Jesus (Luke 4:30; John 8:58, 10:31) but in John 18:6 we see with a simple statement "I am he", Jesus' enemies fall to the ground. He had the power to walk away a free man but instead he chose to lay down his life for us. 

While we may not always understand the way God works, when we look at the cross we see both his love and his power. —Susan Barnes