This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. 1
If “Jesus Loves Me” topped the Sunday School hit parade back in the day, then “This Is My Father’s World” was a close second, at least at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Cheboygan, Michigan. The first two stanzas proclaimed God’s majesty as reflected in creation, and the third assured us gathered wee ones that, in the presence and power of God, wrong is not as strong as it seems. Keyword: “seems.”
We tend to think of temptations as insurmountably strong, for like pipsqueaks before pugilists, our fleshy forays against it have failed too many times to count. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,”2 said Jesus, and we have proved Him to be true. The wrong seems unconquerable because our feeble self-will is no match against it, no matter how steely our resolve. We are overwhelmed.
Then what better place for God to plant His power than into our weakness? As the Lord told Paul, “My power is made perfect in weakness.”3 And against what setting could the facets of God’s being — His strength, love, and wisdom — gleam more brilliantly if not our frailties? “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”4 In great power God has stepped into our weakness, and in our weakness His power is shown great.
So, we go forward —pipsqueaks filled with power — for “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”5 Confident in His great strength, we advance the Kingdom, for “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”6 Then as we live in Him and He in us, we find the wrong is not so strong, after all. God is the ruler yet.
“March on, my soul, with might!” — Judges 5:21 ESV
Father, indeed “the wrong seems oft so strong,” but we confess that Christ has overcome sin and its power over us. Lead us in this confidence today — that Christ in us is stronger than any wrong we encounter today. In Him we pray. Amen.
1 Babcock, Maltbie D. “This Is My Father’s World.” Public Domain.
2 Matthew 26:41 ESV
3 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
4 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 ESV
5 1 John 4:4 ESV
6 2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV
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Paul Nordman—Author 