Perhaps one of the most quoted yet least understood verses of the Bible is Philippians 4:13. In Philippians 4:11–12 (which we looked at last week) Paul tells his readers he has learned to be content in every circumstance. Now in Philippians 4:13 Paul tells us he learned to rely on Christ in every circumstance.
Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13, NASB).[1] Here Paul describes what is possible. The word “things” refers to what Paul has talked about in Philippians 4:12 which were humble means, prosperity, being filled, being hungry, having abundance, and suffering need.
Paul says that what is possible is based on the secret (which is Christ). Paul’s words contrast with the Stoic philosophers of his time who said that you can be content by being sufficient and reliant on yourself. Paul learned to be content in poverty not because of his self-sufficiency, but because of his God-sufficiency. Paul was not content because he was self-sufficient in his situation. He was content because of Christ who strengthened him to get through every circumstance. His circumstances changed, but his contentment did not because his contentment was based on Christ, not his circumstances. The joy Paul mentioned sixteen times in this letter did not come from poverty or prosperity, his joy came from Christ.
Paul says that his joy was possible based on the filling power of Christ. When he said that Christ “strengthens me,” it meant Christ “infuses strength into me”[2] or that Christ “pours strength into me.” The same phrase is used in 1 Timothy 1:12, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service” (emphasis added). Paul’s source of strength was Christ, and that was his secret in getting by with a lot or little.
The focus here is not on Paul and how Paul improved his circumstances. There is nothing here about Paul getting what he needed. He did not learn “how to escape” or “how to improve” but instead, “how to make do with where he was.” Paul was not writing for us a self-help manual. “If you don’t like your life, change it.” I remember once talking to a non-Christian and asked him what he thought about the Bible. He told me he thought the Bible contained good principles for achieving success in life. But the Bible is not primarily about us; it’s about God and how he interacts with us.
Paul reveals to us how to get through and survive the circumstances we endure. The self-help version of Philippians 4:13 goes like this, “I can do all things through myself because I try hard.” But Paul’s version is, “I can do all things through another person and his name is Jesus Christ.”
If there’s one lesson we learn from Philippians 4:13, it is that we can endure any circumstance, event, hardship, or trial. We can do this not because of who we are, but because of who strengthens us when we need it.
[1] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[2] Vincent, Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), p. 460.