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Do you ever just feel like giving up? One of our common excuses is “I can’t do it.” How often have you been there? I couldn’t even begin to count how many times I’ve said that or felt like saying it: “I can’t do this!”
In Philippians 4:13 the Apostle Paul wrote: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (NASB). Now, he’s not saying that you can do anything you want to do or be anything you want to be. There’s no way I could ever be a brain surgeon or run a four-minute mile. But you and I can do everything that God gives us to do because the One who assigns the job to us also provides the strength to do it.
A few years ago I became involved in a new endeavor—a new ministry at my church, and quite frankly I was in over my head. We felt God leading us to begin a residential home for women who have been sexually trafficked. I’d never done that before and there were days when I simply said to God, “I can’t do this!” And that’s when I was reminded of what Paul wrote in that same letter to the Philippians: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
What God begins, he completes. Naomi’s House has been open for three years now, and lives are being changed. Whether it’s the job of parenting, or being a caregiver, or working in a difficult job—whatever—if it’s a job that you must do, God will carry it on to completion. You can do it through Christ. If you’ve been saying “I can’t do this,” I know how you feel. But don’t let the devil keep you from the good thing God wants you to do just because you feel inadequate. God will complete what he begins in you.