I memorized Philippians 4:13 as a child as “For I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”
The ESV version: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
But NT Wright describes it in his The Kingdom New Testament as “I have strength for everything in the one who gives me power.”
The Ampified Bible is close to that, “I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me.”
One version gives me the feeling that the strength is through me and that this power is something that I am looking to attain, and that maybe God is giving me some extra power or an ability to be stronger. With it comes this idea that we are limitless, we can do all things…anything we put our mind to.
But the correct way to look at this suggests I am ready for whatever Christ may bring my way. It is a statement of Christ sufficiency. The way NT Wright writes it, it more clearly puts us in the passive acceptance of the thing, the “everything”, that comes from the one who holds the power.
It is clear from both passages that God gives strength but the question of where it is fully contained and then how this applies to our lives isn’t fully clear, that it must might be in me and my wants. I might be able to conjure up power in myself in some cases.
And I am prone to take an “I can do all things” approach and forget the rest. But this is not a self-help “I can do all things” that we take and apply to that thing that we want.
I love the way NT Wright expresses this verse as it is clear that the strength has more dependence. It is passively contained in us and fully contained in God. Now it is, in whatever God brings my way, I receive strength. It is a godward statement that reorients my heart to His power.
On the surface, it’s not too different but it is different in how my heart orients to the question. One of hurry to apply vs one that requires itself to be patient.
This puts my heart at ease. It gives me peace. I’ve tried and come up dry to make things happen and I need Jesus to replace my pride, my ego, even in the most subtle of ways and in the small cracks. I tend to suppress and believe “I’m not good enough” and then when I find a reason to believe that I am successful, I move to the other extreme. “Don’t get in my way” ego.
We need the power that comes from a life oriented to God’s power in following His will. Pursuing something has its place but lately I’ve been learning the simplicity of resting and waiting. Even in the midst of job loss and limited income currently.
In our hearts, we want to replace our ability to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and to attain more. Instead, rest in God. We do what we have peace in pursuing, in the strength of God.