Real strength
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
A group of us young men decided to explore and old open mine near town. We brought a long rope and threw it down from the top and tied it off to a tree.
We went to the bottom and took turns climbing the shear rock wall. When it was my turn and I was ½ way up (60 ft) I froze up. I couldn't look down and I could climb up. Finally after a little bit I decided to repel down. I went too fast, but I made it down. When I got there I had a rope burn that went through the skin and deep into the flash. It left a scar that remains today. It was only because I had God to rest on for His strength.
In the several years following the diving accident that left her a quadriplegic, Joni Erickson Tada struggled with every imaginable emotion. She was helpless, but came to discover that God was not. The more she accepted her weakness and limitations, the greater her realization of God's strength in her. She has written, "Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you."
When Paul wrote the often quoted words found in Philippians 4:13, he was in prison. "I can do all things through Christ" this is not a magic formula. It is not a promise that we can do anything we want. Rather, it is a promise that we can do anything God wants. Paul was confident that God was directing his life and was with him even in prison. He knew what God expected of him—faith, endurance, strength, boldness—he would be able to accomplish, not through his strength, but through the strength of the One who lived in Him.
If God is asking something of you today for which you feel inadequate, it's okay to agree that you are! Confessing your weakness is the first step toward allowing Christ to show His strength in you.
“Real true faith is man's weakness leaning on God's strength.” D. L. Moody
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