I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I have recited this particular verse more times than I can count. It was the first verse I memorized, and it has remained the first to roll off my tongue when the going gets tough. It serves as my plush cuddly blanky when the world’s thermostat reads dangerously low, like the negative double digits below freezing kinda low.
Revelation is progressive they say. Well, the skeptic is now a believer.
In recent years, what I have learnt about Phil 4:13 is everything that was left unsaid. Cue the amplified Bible, which is in my humble opinion the purveyor of distilled truth…
I can do all things (which He has called me to do), through Him who strengthens and empowers me (to fulfill His purpose).
It hits different doesn’t it? Like a little more below the belt, and a lot more get of your high horse-y? Ya, I feel you…
…and if I am to be honest, it put a damper on things for me. That little part about- which He has called me to do, weakened my blame game, and the one about- to fulfill His purpose just about crushed my flesh.
The revelation here is two-pronged.
The first is, I have a God-given purpose. One specifically drafted for me. I am not an accident, and I am not meant to just pass by, or clutch to the hems of worldly things to, and I use this word loosely, sustain me.
The second is, God gives me strength for His purposes, and not what I feel like doing. This explains a lot actually, the unrelenting fatigue I have felt many a time, caught somewhere between a hamster wheel of life, and a rabbit hole. In a rat race, running on empty.
I heard Mike Todd (Pastor @ Transformation Church – DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS DUDE) explain my life this way, I was doing, and not being.
The strength comes in waiting on the Lord, just like a waiter would in a restaurant. We have all experienced 5 star waiters (I hope), and 1 star ones too (more prevalent unfortunately). Reflect on your experience in both instances, and then replace you with God, and the waiter with you. Wait on God with the qualities and skills that make a 5 star waiter. Think patience. Think active listening. Think polite. Think attentive. Also, consider whipping out a pen and paper, because He will speak.
I cringe at my experiences with waiters who committed my order to memory, and came back with the wrong order. Not a major key.
But lest I digress.
In waiting on God, and being in Christ we avoid unnecessary wear and tear.
In waiting on God, and being in Christ we gather the strength to do all the things He has called and chosen us to do.
It’s not magic, its good ol’ choice. The choice to wait, and be (in) gives us the ability to soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint|Isaiah 40:31|.
Happy monyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay lovelies!
xoxo
Mel.
WateredSeed 