I Can Do All Things
Introduction:
I’m Pete. God loves you!
The topic today: The Bible says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Let’s take a closer look.
First Impression:
First impression of that verse is often, that I can be victorious in whatever I set my mind to. For men, it might mean beating our chest or raising a fist like we are the strongest. It seems like we will win every fight.
Getting a Better Look:
Often the verses around that verse lend understanding to what was meant. Or maybe, nearby chapters. Maybe reading the book in the Bible that verse is in gives greater clarity. Sometimes other portions of the Bible clarify. So, let’s check these out a little.
The verse this comes from is: I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (ESV)
So, let’s read it with the verses around it:
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. Philippians 4:12-14 (ESV)
Now the true meaning of that verse starts to become clear. God and Christ have brought Paul through being brought low, facing hunger, facing need, and having trouble. -Not just abounding, facing plenty, and having abundance. How many of us have the faith to go through all those troubles and still say like Paul, “I can do all things through Christ.”?
If you look through the rest of the book of Philippians, and the rest of the Bible, you find that God and Christ also helped Paul get through a long list of ordeals. One portion of the Bible summarizes many of those trials and weaknesses:
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 (ESV)
So, perhaps you now see that Paul was actually saying that God and Christ helped Paul endure, whether Paul looked victorious or not. Paul wasn’t victorious in avoiding those troubles, but he was victorious in enduring them, gaining greater resolve, and more trust in God, because of Christ.
Application:
Don’t throw in the towel when troubles come and you don’t seem victorious. Trust God. Focus on Jesus. Rely on God to help you through your struggles one way or another. Then you too can say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
May God Bless You!