Doing All the Things
Philippians 4:13 reads:
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 is often seen as one of the most empowering verses in the bible. It is a verse that is easy to run to when things feel difficult, tough, or even impossible. As a matter of fact, as I write this, I am looking back at a week that nearly leveled me. A week where things seemed difficult, tough, and at times, impossible. I had too many things to do, not enough time to do them, and I struggled with how to prioritize them.
Philippians 4:13 is also a verse that is at risk of being misused. As humans, it is easy to use this verse to justify all our busyness.
To fully understand Philippians 4:13, let’s take a look at the context. Paul is sitting in prison and in the prior verse, he is talking about how he has learned how to be content through Christ in any and every situation. Paul is sitting in prison. He is sitting in prison because of his beliefs and teachings. Because he is a Christian. When Paul is writing this letter, he is not busy doing, he is enduring his situation. He is writing to the people of Philippi who are trying to grow the church he started. Paul and the people of Philippi are doing their kingdom work. They clearly understand their purpose on earth and they are sacrificing and suffering on behalf of their calling. Paul’s kingdom work is the thing he can do through Christ, who strengthens him.
In today’s world, we are very busy doing all the things. As moms, we are working, caring for our families, driving to extra-curriculars, helping with homework, cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, being a part of our church families, serving our communities, raising our children, paying bills, being wives, maintaining our self-care, attending conferences, etc. There is really no end to our lists of commitments. The holiday season is upon us and that is a To-Do list multiplier. Many of us as parents are exhausted before it all even begins. And if you are like me, when I am spread paper-thin, it is easy for me to run to Philippians 4:13 and remind myself I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. But…I don’t believe that was the intent behind this verse and I don’t believe God meant for us to keep our plates so full.
Busyness is a distraction from our real work. If satan can keep us earthly busy, then there is very little room for us to focus on our kingdom work. The verse doesn’t say I can do everything through Christ, who strengthens me. I’m confident Paul didn’t write this verse thinking, I sure hope people use this truth to run themselves ragged, to do more than is humanly possible, and to take on so many responsibilities that none of them will be done well. That would be so inconsistent with the truths in the Word.
Each of us is here for a specific reason to do a specific work as intended by God. If we reviewed our lists of commitments in the context of our calling, how might our priorities change? If we used the power of Jesus Christ that lives within us to do what God has designed us to do, how fulfilled would we be? If we removed the non-kingdom works from our must-dos, what would our time look like? If we prioritized our God work over our busy work, how would our lives change?
In reality, some of our fatigue and exhaustion is on us. We are prioritizing the voices of the world over the voice of God. We are giving equal weight to our kingdom work and our earthly work. We might even be justifying some of our earthly work as kingdom work.
Before we head into the holiday season, let’s all stop and examine our To-Do lists. Let’s keep in mind:
Rest isn’t the opposite of doing. Rest is something we need to do well.
Let’s truth-check our to-do list through the lens of our kingdom work.
Let’s adjust our prayer life to ask God to give us discernment to recognize the difference between everything and all things.
God, we are so grateful that you don’t expect us to do everything. We are grateful that you love us enough to pull us back on track when we get too far away from our kingdom work. We are grateful that all our strength comes from you and that we don’t have to be dependent on ourselves. We love you and acknowledge your ever-present and never-failing strength. We submit our To-Do lists to your kingdom agenda.