sandlot theology - all things

Warning - this may upset some of your brains........
One of my pet peeves is when people use Philippians 4 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" for personal comfort or personal gain.

I hear them quote it to win a football game.  I can do all things through Christ.  I can work harder, I can defeat the other team.   I hear them quote it to overcome a difficulty.  I hear them quote it as if the point of the passage was the ability to find God's power to get what you want and to bring circumstances to your liking.

While God has lots of power to help with lots of things, and he may just help you win the prize, that is not the point of this scripture.  I can do all things through Christ is not a magic formula that changes bad situations to good.  It is not our will power added to God's special powers that magically eliminates undesirable circumstances.

If a person actually reads the passage, this is what is says....."I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him [all things through Christ KJV] who gives me strength."  Philippians 4:11-13

What Paul is saying is that I have had lots of troubles.  I still do.  I have good days and bad ones.  Happy times and sad.  I have learned in all of them to be content.  I can do this, I can acclimate to all situations through Christ who gives me strength.

It is not a hiding from or running from difficulty, it is a leaning into the difficulty.  It is a trusting God enough so that I can handle the difficulty.  It is not removing the problem, but it is in fact the opposite -  it is finding contentment in adversity.

God is big enough to help us be ok in difficulty.  Having God with us in this life is much more valuable than having circumstances go our way.  When Christ is with me, I can do, I can deal with all things, whether the circumstances change to my liking or not.  And I can do this, because I have come to know a God that is bigger than any difficulty.

That is why it is a beautiful day in God's world if we simply work to see the good.