The Strength to Go On

By Danny Saavedra

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4: 13 (NKJV) 

Did you know that this commonly quoted verse is actually more accurately phrased, "Through Christ, I have strength in all things"? In context, the verse isn't referring to being able to do all things. Instead, the apostle Paul is stating that he is able to endure or bear anything that has come—and will come—his way through the strength Christ supernaturally provides. 

The word strength (ischyo) means to face the "necessary resistance that brings what the Lord defines as success. It's a term that refers to the Lord strengthening us with all that is necessary for us to endure and achieve that for which He gives us faith. So, in every way, faith and strength go hand-in-hand as the Lord provides faith and the strength through His Spirit. 

The key to both faith and strength then depends on us casting aside any notion of self-sufficiency. You know, often we suffer in silence, trying to overcome and cope with our pain and our losses on our own. We try to pull ourselves up without help. We grieve in isolation; and sometimes we even drive people away! Friend, I implore you; this is not the way! We were not designed to suffer in silence and to grieve alone. We were not made for self-sufficiency, nor to rely on our own strength, willpower, and efforts. Instead, we must embrace a reliance on the God of our salvation, the God of hope, the God of comfort and peace and compassion and grace, the God who is near to the broken-hearted. 

When we come to this place, we find this inexplicable and indescribable strength of the Lord; a strength that is made perfect in our weakness and pain (2 Corinthians 12:9). Thus, surrender is the true secret to strength.This verse truly represents the necessary mindset of the Christ-follower.