DUST ON THE BIBLE

Laugh & Lift Daily Issue for Nov 15, 2008

Thought for Today

Accountability to another is the only way to safeguard against poor judgment, unconscious motivations, and self-deception.

The Lift

I Can Do All Things?
(By Alan Smith)
[Substantial editing and additional text by Chris Long]

A 6-year-old girl once asked her father, "What do you have to do to become a doctor?"

Her father said, "You have to do extremely well in school, take a lot of math and science, get into an excellent college, make the highest grades possible, and then go to med school, and follow that with an internship. Then you can start your own practice. Honey, as smart as you are, you can be anything you want to be."

The little girl thought about that and then asked, "What do you have to do to be queen?"

I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but I want to let you know that there's a verse in the Bible that you may have mis-interpreted for many years. I know that I have. You see, many of us have heard lessons which promote positive thinking. We've been told, "If you can see it, you can achieve it." So, if you're a golfer, visualize getting through the golf course at 4 under par. If you need to lose weight, visualize what your life will be like when you're 60 pounds thinner. If you want to climb the corporate ladder, visualize yourself with the position and the salary you desire.

And the verse we have often used to give us the strength to achieve these things is Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." There are, no doubt, some Christian athletes headed to compete in the Olympics who anticipate bringing home a gold medal because "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Now I don't dispute that there is great value in having a vision of where we want to be and what we want to accomplish. And I don't dispute that God will bless us with strength in all endeavors that glorify Him. But I believe it is wrong to teach that anyone can accomplish anything because God will give you the strength. Not every little boy with a dream of playing in the NFL or the NBA is going to achieve that. Not every athlete that quotes Philippians 4:13 will bring home a gold medal. And you can dream about being king or queen all you want to -- dreaming it won't make it happen.

The truth is that for many of us, young or old, life is not always going to turn out exactly like we thought it would. And when people are made to think that if you believe something with all your heart, it will come to pass, then when it doesn't happen that way, they get discouraged, depressed, feel like failures, get angry, or they give up. Christians may even begin to lose their faith in God. "God, how could you let this happen to me? This is not what I wanted! You promised I could do all things!"

The big problem here is that this promise in Scripture was never meant to be about what you and me WANTED. We are told that we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength. This clearly implies 2 things, both of which are oft neglected: (1) that we, in and of ourselves, are much more powerless then we like to admit; (2) Christ is the one with the power which He will infuse to us, but that depends on Him and not US. We tend to place the emphasis on "do all things" and not on "Christ who strengthens me". Will Christ just give us strength for any old thing we want to do or want to achieve? Answer: NO. If I am filled with hatred toward someone and desire to get revenge on them, will Christ give me the strength to do it? NO. Why not? Because it is not His will. Christ won't give you or me one ounce of strength for something that is not in His will. This promise is intended to be used to encourage you that as you do the will of God, you can be confident, because He will give you all the strength you need. With Christ's strength, you can indeed do all things - there is nothing impossible for you. But the real trick here then is to make sure you aren't making the mistake that many through the ages have made in assuming that your will is God's will. Because if it's not His will, you won't have His strength for it either.

It's always a good thing for us to check our motives. God's will often does NOT involve the things that we as humans want or are naturally drawn to. We tend to lust after power, money, fame, etc. Because we want these things, we sometimes like to make God into a "slave" of ours who is OBLIGATED to help us achieve what we want. And we tend to like to use verses like this one to bolster that view. Big mistake. God is not obligated to us and won't give us His strength for just anything that we want to do. He will give us His strength for the things that matter to Him, according to HIS plans and purposes, and not ours. Since God tends to care much more about who you ARE then how much money you have, how much fame you have, etc. this tends to work out much differently in our lives. For instance, if I am a beliver in Jesus but still have a problem sinning in a particular area, it is legitimate to look to this promise as an encouragement/exhortation because I *CAN* do all things through Christ and thus can stop this sinning because I know that it is not Christ's will!

And when you look at the context of Philippians 4:13, it contains an even more powerful message than we ever imagined. In the previous verse, Paul writes, "I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Phil. 4:12).

What is it that Paul can do through Christ? He can be content no matter what the situation -- whether he has plenty or he has nothing, whether he comes in first place with a gold medal or he comes in last place, whether he makes the team or he doesn't make the team. Whatever the circumstance, whatever he may have or not have, Paul learned to be content, to be joyful. Why? Because "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

May this verse serve as an encouragement to you to find joy even in the midst of defeat.

Have a great day!

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