I Can Do All Things

Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”

I have a lot of good ideas, but I am not so hot on follow-through. My thought process often goes something like, “Wouldn’t it be great if somebody did such-and-such? Wouldn’t that be a great testimony/community outreach/offering?” Then when I do nothing about it myself, I tend to fall back on the fact that I’m not a natural leader – I know it isn’t my talent or “spiritual gift” – or that I don’t see any evidence that people would support my idea or get behind it … there all all kinds of reasons why I’m not the right person to carry it out.

And yet, I profess to believe in this amazing, all-powerful, infinite God who builds universes and whose word says “I can do all things through Christ.” Well, I do believe in Him. The question, as aptly put by Beth Moore in her series Believing God, is: Do I believe Him?

If I believe God when He says 1) that He is holy and He is God, 2) that He can do anything, 3) that He loves me and wants a relationship with me, 4) that I can do all things through His power and His will, 5) and that all of these things He says are real and true and happening right now … if I believe Him when He says these things, then shouldn’t I believe that He can and will make me the leader He needs me to be, and that He will provide the support, if support is wanted? I’m absolutely right to think I can’t do those things. I’m absolutely wrong to act as though He can’t.

I was inspired this week by a friend who woke up at 4:30 in the morning with a complete idea in her head for a ministry, that she is certain God put in her mind and on her heart. In the short time since that wake-up call, she has already done a ton of footwork to get this ministry off the ground. In some ways she’s working blind; she’s never done anything like this before, but she knows she’s supposed to be doing it, so she does what she can and prays for guidance for the next step.

Even as I write this my reaction is “Man, I wish I could be that way.” And even as I think it, I realize that I already know I can, if I’m in God’s will and relying on His strength. I just don’t believe God when He assures me of it.

Here’s to stepping out in faith and attempting the impossible because we know it’s what God wants. Here’s to making ourselves uncomfortable by doing what we can’t do unless a miracle occurs. Here’s to believing God.