Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
This is a popular verse for athletes to have tattooed. They may not be a walking christian, yet still have it. They see it as motivational. Which is fine. They use it to score a point or beat an opponent. We can’t or aren’t meant to win all contests. Winning and losing are everyone’s reality.
What is Paul talking about? God always wants us to defeat evil. He always wants us to conquer sin. It’s mainly spiritual which sometimes works in the physical.
This ties into the previous set of verses on contentment. If we aren’t content, then we are worried. That means we aren’t trusting. We don’t think God can do all things. He can.
Part of the problem may be we are worrying about wrong things. I want to win, I want the promotion, we want a particular outcome. God may not want that. He may, but maybe not.
We should repeat Jesus’ prayer, “Thy will be done”. That is from a perfect example. It was Himin the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus wanted an outcome, but it to God. The athlete should should pray that, the job seeker should pray that. Still do one’s best, but leave the outcome to God.
God always wants to conquer sin. We can pray, “I can conquer this with God’s help.” We still have to be wise. An alcoholic shouldn’t pray this while walking into a bar. I Thessalonians 5:22 says, “Abstain from every form of evil”. We are to stay away from the things that tempt us. There are some songs on the radio that throw me back to temptations I’ve struggled with. Even though I love the song it would be wrong to pray, “Lord, thank You for the grace to listen to this song.” I’ve tried it, but it doesn’t work. It’s our job to avoid temptation whenever we sense it. Just like Joseph ran when confronted with Potifar’s wife. We are to flee temptation, not try to overcome it.
If we are to flee temptation, so when do we stand firm? We stand against evil. Joshua 24:15c says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!” Which means we won’t serve other god’s. I think of the Israelites putting up the high places. How does that apply to us? Don’t cheat, don’t steal and so on. We all bump into integrity issues in our days. Sometimes God speaks to our hearts about things. “Do this” or “Do that.” These take courage and fortitude. That’s where God gives us strength.
We may be low on provisions. Yet, we know that God will provide. That takes faith. Jesus speaks of God providing food for the birds. He says that He cares for them and He cares for us far more (Matthew 6:26). Whatever we are worried about He will attend to.
This isn’t due to our being irresponsible. The bible says, “If we don’t work, we don’t eat”, (2 Thessalonians 3:10b). God can still rescue, but we need to learn the lesson of responsibility.
God has gifted us in a unique way and He has good plans for each of us. If we see His long term plans we may be intimidated. He teaches us through baby steps. Today’s verse is part of that. His way for us is part of “do all things”. It’s a miracle. He takes us lesser vessels and empowers us to do things that would shock us.
Lord, thank You for this verse. You empower us to do all the things You want us to do. Thank You for the provision, thank You for the victory over evil and sin.