Recently I was confronted with a ministry challenge that reminded me that I desperately needed the Lord’s help in order to accomplish what I had to do.  He gave to me the verse,“I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).  I memorized that verse as a child and quoted it many times to myself and to others.  It has a tendency to become a cliche-something we quote but never truly experience.  Yet over the past few weeks I have experienced the strength of Christ daily.  I needed his strength and he supplied.  I needed his comfort and he was there.  I needed his wisdom and he spoke to me.  I can do what God has called me to do, because he has given the strength to do it.

This truth becomes magnified when fasting.  Physically I am very weak.  I do fine as long as I don’t overexert myself.  Any intense activity drains me.  Muscle cramps set in.  I get dizzy easily.  My body is telling me that it needs nourishment-it needs food.  Now for those who know me, know that I am overweight, so the reality is that my body has a store of fat on which to draw.  I often joke that my belly is my 40 day fast.  (Please nutritionists don’t chide me over what my body is missing when fasting as I know it better than you).  The point is that the body without food is weak just as the spirit without Christ is weak.  We want to be spiritually strong, to have great faith and to “feel” that we have it all together.  God needs us to become dependent upon Him, so that He can work through us what He was to accomplish.  

The devil took Jesus up to a high mountain and offered him the kingdoms of the world if he would only worship him.  Jesus declined.  The offer was for untold wealth and power and Jesus rejected it.  He choose to worship only the Lord and to depend upon Him for everything else.  Thus the principle is lived out by Jesus, don’t trust in human strength alone.  Instead learn to trust in God and the strength that He provides.  (Matthew 4:8-10).