There is a growing deception in the American church, one that is subtle, hard to detect, and so very dangerous. It’s difficult to see because it pairs so well with our rugged American individualism, and it plays on our desire to do whatever we want and still be loved by God.
In short, we don’t like limits, and so we fall for the lie that we don’t have any.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13 NASB, emphasis mine)
Even though we know that we could never save ourselves, or pull ourselves up by our own spiritual bootstraps, we find it easier to live as if we could. If we don’t stay connected to the Vine, we begin to lose sight of those middle three words and slowly start to only see the first five.
“I can do all things.”
We turn it into a mantra, a philosophy, a pre-workout playlist. We begin to believe that we are limitless, and that we’re called to live a boundary-free life. The result of this thinking is simply that anything that feels like a limit can’t be from God. After all, “I can do all things” must be the eternal “yes” to whatever our hearts desire!
The whisper of the serpent is so compelling because it always contains some element of truth, and this lie is no different.
We really can do all things because nothing is impossible to the one who believes (Mark 9:23), but that doesn’t mean that we should do all things.
Occasionally, the situations we face bring us face-to-face with our limitations so that we will remember the three words that this promise hinges on.
“Through Him who…”
We can only do all things when we allow Him to give us His strength, and there is nothing in that statement that allows us to take any credit for the things we do. We are nothing apart from Him (John 15:5), and we need His power for everything we do.
Limits are frustrating, but they aren’t debilitating when we allow them to point us to the Limitless One. And in that moment, we’ll find the power we need to do all things through Him who strengthens us.
