I love today’s post by fellow Living By Grace hostess Joanne Sher because she does ALOT! She maintains a personal blog at An Open Book, blogs daily at FaithWriters’ Blog, posts monthly at Jewels of Encouragement, the Midwestern group blog The Barn Door, and Internet Cafe’ Devotions and contributes to the Faithwriters’ Writing Challenge. She also does a great deal of editing and collaborates with me on a tween devotional project, and writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. Reading about her plethora of projects, one would think she’s a super-writer, capable of penning manuscripts in her sleep. So, when she talks about what she can’t do, I listen!
What I Can’t Do
By Joanne Sher
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 NKJV
Christ is the one who strengthens me for my tasks. It is His power that allows me to accomplish great things for Him. Without Him, I can do nothing.
Then why can’t I, for instance, fly? Heal my husband physically? Travel at warp speed? Find gas for less than $2 a gallon? Write an exceptional, bestselling book in 24 hours? (Or even one month?)
Because God has not strengthened me for those particular tasks.
If I go out on my own and decide what I will accomplish this year – or this month, or this day – I may or may not succeed. Because God does not strengthen me for what I want. He strengthens me for what He wants.
You see, “all things” can be a bit misleading. It is only through Christ that I will be empowered – and He will not strengthen me for any old task. It is only those things that are in His will where He will work in my life this way.
So, perhaps, if you are not achieving “all things,” it is because He has not strengthened you for the task.
And if He has not strengthened you, you probably need to re-examine your goals, and your direction. Perhaps you are reaching for the wrong things. Maybe you can’t do it (whatever “it” may be) because you aren’t supposed to; because Christ wants to put His strength in you for another, more God-honoring task.
And who wants to work without His strength?
Joanne Sher was raised in Southern California but now lives in West Michigan with her wonderful husband Marc, and their two kids – Andrew is 10 and Annika is 7. She was raised in the Jewish faith, but has since become a follower of Christ.