For the last 20 years, I have treasured this verse of Scripture: Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
I devoted myself to the belief that Christ could (or would) enable me to do all (or everything) that I wanted to be able to do; and he did just that!
He led me to water therapy and helped me conquer my fear so that I learned to swim laps. But he also taught me to maintain a respect for the good, and bad, aspects of water. During that time, he provided access to a warm water pool and the transportation to get there.
When the doctors and I realized the benefit of this water therapy, I devoted a block of time every day. I believed if I tried really hard that Christ would give me the strength that was required. I benefited in many ways. One of the best things was that I led other people to a belief in the scripture that God’s word provides. In that block of time, He also enabled me to conquer my fear of speaking in public and he provided opportunities for me to drive again. I traveled as a Christian speaker and was blessed with the chance to share a miracle with others through speaking and writing.
Some of this will surely sound repetitious to seasoned readers but will help new readers to understand my life situation. The more I was able to do at that time, the more I believed that I could do all things through Christ who gave me the strength to do so. Now at age 66 and having been through some rough times, I still believe that “Christ can do all things.”
But I’ve learned a lot that I did not know about God’s word in Second Timothy Chapter 3:16-17 which reads as follows: “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Recently, I realized that I spent 10 weeks out of 52 in the hospital or rehab during 2013. In that time I experienced God at work with his amazing hands through doctors, nurses, and therapists. But I have also given some deep thought to the word all.
In our society today, some of us tend to believe that all means everything. And we may believe that it means that God will give us the strength to do everything! But those of us who have had health problems know that everything does not mean exactly what we want it to mean.
Rehabilitation can sometimes require more than we (or I) have to give. Those were the times when I puzzled over how much the Lord would enable me to exhibit. When the therapists are here, things are a little easier because they give me so much encouragement.
This story, in fact, is a result of those thoughts running through my mind during the exercise. While I was alone, I reminded myself that “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
Scripture wrestled in my mind as it did in Genesis 32:22-30 when Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob was left with an injury in his hip. He had a handicap just as so many of us do today. We do not understand why God chose to leave him in pain anymore than we realize now that health problems can limit us.
I began to mull over my thoughts of all the strength God has provided. It is not always the amount we (I) want or expect. We do not know or always understand why God does things the way he does. Scripture does tell us that “His plans are not the same as ours.” But what I do know is that he does have a plan for me. I must pray that he will lead and guide me to gain all the strength that he wants me to have; then I can follow him.
Linda Beck is a local writer who lives in Woodleaf.