From the Pulpit: Through Him, we can do anything!
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Exodus 15:2
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and power forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11
The word that stands out to me in all of these verses is strength. These verses remind me of three things: I can do all things with the Lord’s strength; my source of strength comes from the Lord not from myself; and in all I do I should do it in the strength that the Lord provides.
There are many areas of life where strength is needed. Whether it’s physical strength, emotional strength, or spiritual strength, we all find ourselves needing strength as we go through our everyday lives. So often, we try to do things through our own strength. We try to handle our problems on our own. Try to figure out the how to deal with stress that comes up. Try to juggle everything on our own. But when we rely only on ourselves, we don’t get very far. We get tired and weary. We get frustrated or feel like we can’t do what the Lord has called us to do. But when we remember that our source of strength comes from the Lord, we realize that we aren’t working through our strength, but His and through Him nothing is impossible.
Each of these verses are a great reminder of where we can find strength. It’s OK if we don’t feel like we can handle a situation by ourselves, because we have the greatest strength available to us! We have the strength of the Lord and He will never leave us! We can admit to Him that we need help and He is right there with us. When we feel tired, feel like we don’t know the words to say, don’t feel like we are skilled enough to do what He has called us to do, we don’t have to get discouraged because the strength doesn’t come from us. The strength comes from the Lord. Through Him we can do anything! We can turn to Him and ask for His wisdom, His renewed energy, His words and be obedient and see the amazing things that can happen when we work out of His strength and not our own!
