“I can do ALL things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13: this is the verse Brent chose as our “verse of the week.” It’s not a hard one  to memorize, which has actually been nice because I’ve been spending the past couple days really meditating on it and mulling it over in my mind.

I used to think people “over-spiritualized” everything.  I would hear people talk about how losing weight was a spiritual battle or how they  prayed about what kind of dishwasher to buy and I would think “God does not care what kind of dishwasher you buy.” But then, as I got out on my own and realized that I ate food when I was stressed instead of running to the Lord and I started trying to figure out how God wanted me to spend my money, I realized that God does care about those things–that in fact, EVERYTHING is spiritual. 

So today, as I mull over our verse for the week, I am realizing that “ALL things” really does mean ALL THINGS. The big stuff and the hard stuff and the traditionally spiritual stuff, and also the small stuff and the daily stuff and the things I wouldn’t normally think about.

We can do ALL things.

B can do the early mornings and the long days and the late nights.

I can maintain a work/life balance.

We can live with an uncertainty about the future.

B can lead our family.

I can submit to Brent.

Brent can work and study and prepare.

We can manage our finances in a way with which the Lord is pleased.

We can live without fear, knowing God has us in a home he picked for us.

We can do ALL the things!!

But why do we fail? Because we’re trying to do ALL things through our own strength. I’m trying to keep an orderly home and be successful at work and run a great cheer program and keep a healthy body and memorize Scripture and maintain great friendships through Rachel’s strength. And Brent is trying to lead our family and study for tests and apply for school and work all the hours and maintain a healthy body through Brent’s strength. And we fail.

We can ALL things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me.

We can do NO thing WITHOUT CHRIST who strengthens me.

Daily, moment by moment, we are learning to lean on Christ, to gather all our strength and ability from Him and through our relationship with Him, knowing that then, we can do all things.