<p>11:17 <i>We give You thanks O Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was; because You have taken Your great power and have reigned</i>- God can do anything, He is omnipotent. But He chooses to limit His omnipotence in order to allow man total freewill. Therefore effectively, how far God will fulfil His purpose depends upon how far we are obedient to Him. Thus Israel limited the Holy One of Israel (Ps. 78:41). Only at the return of the Lord Jesus will God 'take to Himself His great power'- which language of itself suggests that God has chosen to limit His omnipotence for the moment. Of course, God can act quite independently of us; He has the sovereign right and ability to act as He likes, and achieve His objectives how He likes. But it seems that God chooses to limit His ability to do this. We have complete freewill, and God&nbsp;works with us individually in proportion as we work with Him. We have genuine choice, not only as to whether to serve God, but <i>how </i>and on what level and to what extent we serve Him, within the salvation we experience in Christ.</p><p>The faithful (see on :16) now perceive that God always was in control and in power; all their tribulations were only with His permission.</p>