All Things

Psalm 22:22-26
2 Chronicles 16,17; Acts 21:5-16

I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 39:18

Paul wrote: I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Lord our God, we thank you for daily protection and guidance through the Holy Spirit. Keep our hearts in tune with you through prayer, so we may discern your will for our daily walk with you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I can do all things. Nothing too tough, nothing to hard. I can do all things. But not in my own strength, but in Christ's strength.

Yesterday in church I had just completed one of the toughest mornings of my life getting into an endless control battle with a son who was quite out of control. I felt defeated, week, undisciplined, and tired. I wasn't sure I could face the next hour, much less the rest of my life. When you're facing the kind of challenges I was yesterday and the child is only 11, there are so many hard years ahead... we know this by experience because we have already parented three children almost to adulthood, and the years from 11 on did not get easier but harder.

Our first hymn of the morning was "Jesus Calls Us" and it begins, "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult of our life's wild restless sea." I thought to myself, "that's my life! A wild, restless sea." And I asked myself, "Can I hear Jesus calling?"

And his call? "Christian, follow me."

I realized then that the answer is not in me. The answer is in following Jesus and in looking to Him for my strength. My situation probably isn't going to change. It may not, probably won't be, easier. But it is ME who can change.

I can do all things... but not on my own. Following Jesus, day by day, relying on His strength.