Power Struggle
Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:24-28
God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere. 1 Corinthians 15:28
When the powerful king of a tiny island in the South Pacific discovered that his enemies on a distant island were planning an attack by war canoes, he was determined not only to defend his life but to protect his most costly possession: a huge, golden throne that sat in the middle of his grass hut. So the king called in thousands of warriors, armed them with spears, and placed them around his hut. He was sure that no enemy army would be able to get through his defenses.
Just to be on the safe side, the king decided to hide his golden throne. On the night before the enemy war canoes were expected to arrive, he had his strongest warriors lift the thousand-pound throne up onto the wooden rafters of his grass hut and cover it with grass. With his army outside and his throne safely hidden above, the king lay down on his mat and went to sleep.
During the night, the king’s warriors were awakened by a loud noise from the king’s grass hut. They rushed in to find that the rafters had collapsed under the weight, and the throne had crashed to the floor where the king was sleeping. The king, who had planned his defense so well, was dead.
The moral of the story? “People who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones.” Ouch. What a silly twist to the old proverb that “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” However, this story teaches us that even the most powerful people in the world can’t control everything. Think about it:
• Bill Gates, the cofounder of Microsoft, is one of the richest men in the world, but he can’t buy a cure for cancer.
• Tiger Woods might become the golfer with the most wins of all time, but he can’t get away from life’s toughest sand traps and water hazards.
• Hillary Clinton could someday become the country’s first woman president, but she can’t stop wars from happening around the world.
There is only one supreme authority in all of creation: God. No thing or no person has the power, wisdom, or wealth that he does.
The Resurrection proved that God rules over both life and death. When you become a member of God’s family by trusting Christ, you become the child of the most powerful person in the universe!
TALK: Is there anything the God of life and death can’t do? Do you have any problem he cannot help you overcome? Of course not—the Resurrection proved it!
PRAY: God, thank you that you are big enough to handle all the problems we face today. Use your resurrection power to make us strong.
ACT: Do you have a friend facing a problem? How can you help him or her trust God?