A few weeks ago a group of us completed a ropes course together, followed by a trip up a climbing wall. This certainly wasn’t my first climbing wall experience, but after having just come off the ropes course, my upper body strength was shot. I found myself more than once using a phrase I never like to hear: “I can’t”.
Has “I can’t” ever been the mindset in your life or ministry? If it has, you know that it’s a road barrier. Giving in to the idea that something simply cannot be done will kill your motivation, inhibit your potential, and worst of all, show your lack of faith.
While “I can’t” is a phrase I’d like to all together cut from my vocabulary, it’s both important and humbling to realize that sometimes really is true. The truth of the matter is that we, as people, will encounter things we are unable to do on our own.
The good news is that a realization of our own inability speaks strongly to who God is and how deeply He cares for us. Ephesians 3:20 tells us that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. There will be days and situations that we cannot conquer on our own, but that’s because we aren’t supposed to. We trust that God is always able and will give us the strength and wisdom we ask Him for. As a believer, your “I can’t” should always be followed with a realization that “God can”.
Take some time today to think about the situations that you are trying to tackle on your own. In what areas of your life do you need to remember that you can’t, but God can?