My Mom used to say to me, “I can’t never could do anything.”
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Now let’s not divorce that statement from it’s context by reading the two preceding verses that led up to Paul’s thought.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
“Everywhere and in all things”
For a believer to say “I can’t,” is like saying God is not enough.
To say “I can’t” is to accept defeat before you’ve even fought the battle.
The attitude of “I can’t” is what keeps believers on the sidelines instead of in the game.
Most people will never engage a process if they expect failure before they begin.
For instance the church is not in need of yet another teaching on the gifts and how to use them, or a gift quest for folks to discover what gift they have.
What the church needs is for the saints to abandon the “I can’t” syndrome!
There are two responses sparked when it comes to “I can’t.”
There are those who take someone saying you can’t do that as a challenge. They set out to prove it can be done.
Then there are those who are told you can’t and it stops them dead in their tracks.
The difference between the two is a matter of faith.
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
