The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

—Philippians 4:13

This is one of the most known, loved, and shared verses in the Bible, but it’s almost always taken to mean something that it doesn’t mean.

We say it when we have that job interview, that ball game, that cancer treatment.

“I can do all things!” 

“I can get the job.” 

“I can win the game.” 

“I can beat the cancer.”

And that may be the Lord’s will for us. But that’s not what this verse means.

The previous verses are, “For I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (Philippians 4:11–12).

These are the things Paul is saying we can do. We can be content even when we don’t get the job, win the game, or beat the cancer, because our hope lies in something that will matter long after all that is over.

Christ has overcome this world not by saying we will always win or be successful or have it easy right now but by giving us a way to live with him forever beyond the here and now. This world is not our home, and nothing that can happen in this world is the end of hope for believers.

We can suffer failure, loss, and hunger yet still have hope, knowing Christ has already accomplished the ultimate overcoming.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download