Philippians 4:13. If you know even the smallest bit about the Bible, you've probably heard this. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" or maybe you've heard it, "In Christ, ALL things are possible". In fact, you've probably seen it plastered on every girl's Facebook status the night before a big exam or a race. Guilty. If I'm honest with you, for the longest time, I had a personal vendetta with this verse, but ONLY because I've seen it so much.... to me, it just became words.. Something I would write on a test to make myself feel better. It was only recently that this verse really came alive to me.
and wondering, "How in the hell am I ever going to make it?" See let me tell you something about myself. I can be the most doubtful, questioning, needy, fearful, insecure, worriesome person I know. I have always felt I NEEDED someone to accomplish something- that I was incapable of doing things on my own. I think that some of my favorite catch lines are "I can't", "I won't", "not this enough", "not that enough". I've always looked at things as impossible. More than a year ago, I just knew I wasn't going to make it through graduate school. I just knew it was going to be impossible. I could relate this to every other area of my life. Really. I'm sure you could too. Any goal, ambition, etc.
Impossible. Impossible is, I've learned, a state of mind. There is nothing impossible. "Through Christ ALL things are possible". Read that again. I recently heard my pastor say something that stuck with me. He said "All of the Bibles greatest stories do not come from improbable situations, but impossible ones".
I know your next thought. These things I described to you earlier about my life are not IMPOSSIBLE situations. I live an easy life. I wake up today with the option to choose what to eat for breakfast. I wake up not fighting a life-threatening disease and able to walk. I have the opportunity to do very cool (but time-consuming) research and I come home to a mom who has most likely prepared a Paleo friendly dinner to accommodate my lifestyle. Truthfully, I don't know what impossible is. However, I have seen it.
I have seen broken marriages with no hope restored. I have seen my dad being 1 out of a group of 13 soldiers infected by Hepatitis C, healed completely. I have seen impossible, and I have seen it conquered. But how? Read the verse again. "I can do all things..." But there's more! "...through Christ" and more "...who strengthens me" My dad is one of the strongest people I know.. mentally, physically, spiritually, you name it. He treats everything in life as a challenge. I don't think I've ever met anyone else who says they welcome trials and tribulations, because it provides perseverance and hope. As Christians, we are called to rejoicing in these things, but if we are all honest nobody ENJOYS trials. But referring back, it wasn't my dad's OWN strength that got him through that. He will often tell me it is because he knows he is God's favorite, and I have to laugh at that. I'm not sure God's favorite gets kicked off the Church basketball team for not playing nicely. But, I know better. "Through Christ ALL things are possible". We say it so readily, but how often do we REALLY believe it? The Lord uses impossible situations to show His power and His omniscience. Because it is in these times that we can't rely on US. There is only ONE who flips the circumstances.
All that to say, as I wrap up my master's degree (God willing I don't blow my defense) and enter the next chapter of my life, I can be confident of all the possibilities that this new perspective opens my eyes to. I will tell you that it was not my own wisdom that has gotten me through school - heck, I STILL can't figure out that equation above. But, I do know, that the Lord takes things you deem impossible and proves otherwise. Life is too short for impossibilities, cant's, and wont's. I'm not sure what impossibility you may be facing today, but I do know that with Christ, it is possible to defeat. :)
"O my soul, march on in strength." Judges 5:21b
