Articles
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
We rightly stand in awe of what Paul accomplished in his 25-30 years of apostolic service. The physical rigors of a nomadic lifestyle; the intellectual debates; the personal attacks and false accusations; the murder plots; the disappointment in others; even the envious sniping by his own Christian brethren – all this and more plagued this great servant of God.
But Paul is clear on how he was able to endure all this stress and still lay the foundation of Christ and His gospel throughout the Roman world: he did it by the power of Christ. And so can we.
No, we are not apostles with the same commission and resources given to Paul. But that is the point. Even Paul, with all the power of an apostle, could not rely on himself to execute the Lord’s will. He needed to look outside himself to the Lord.
This requires a certain frame of mind. We must train ourselves to seek God’s will, ask for His guidance and blessing, pray for patience, wisdom, endurance and all the other qualities God wishes to see in us. We can’t just grit our teeth and dig our heels in. Satan is more powerful than human stubbornness. He will wear us out if we don’t truly learn to depend on God.
