Resolutions
It was one of those Christian gatherings that felt like a cheerleading session. The preacher was working up a serious sweat as he dashed around the platform, his bald head shiny. ’We need an army of people who will rise up in the knowledge that, through Christ, we can do anything, ANYTHING!’, he bellowed. The ebullient congregation, apparently unconcerned about this red faced minister’s blood pressure, roared their approval, amens echoing around the building.
As often happens during these occasions, a mosquito sized niggle had been buzzing around my brain during the sermon, but now the pesky question-marks had morphed into an alarm bell. The theme of the message was that frequently misquoted statement of Paul’s, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13), a text that adorns many Christian refrigerators and is often quoted by believing athletes.
But I can’t do anything, and neither can you. I can’t give birth to twins, play the bassoon, speak Cantonese or fly without a ticket. And the preacher who said we could do anything can’t. He’s unable to dash around without perspiring, preach without yelling, or (like me), perm his hair, seeing as there’s a shortage of it.
I can do that which Jesus calls me to, because He will equip me for that calling. But that does not mean a life with no limits, on the contrary. Paul penned those words while stuck in prison, and so during that season, he couldn’t do anything, including popping out for a stroll.
And it’s a good idea to know what we should not do. I used to lead worship, until the blessed day when a faithful friend gently informed me that the Christian church would breathe a huge sigh of relief if I would just hang up my guitar - forever.
All that said, recently I’ve been inspired by Mabel, a sprightly, beautiful 87 year old member of our congregation. We met for a chat just this morning. Lovely Mabel has a smile that can light up a room. She came to Christ as a 13 year old, and quickly discovered an acute hunger for scripture. Meeting the love of her life, Ed, at Bible school, the two married and pastored churches for three decades, and then became missionaries, serving in Taiwan, Alaska and Japan. She’d developed a love for music as a child when her grandfather gave her an old piano. Thousands of hours of tuition and practice have paid off - listening to her play for church is a joy. But what makes her virtuosity so impacting is that Mabel was born with only one hand. Her right arm ends just before the elbow. She has no forearm, just tiny buds where a hand should have developed. ‘But the negatives in life have turned positive for me’ she says. Just two years ago, after 64 years of marriage, Ed passed away after a battle with cancer. He shared her can-do attitude. ‘Don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself after I’ve gone, Mabel’, he told her. ‘God has still got a lot for you to do’.
And so she is doing just that, and not just with her music. Mabel is a consummate encourager and prayer warrior. ‘I’m not extraordinary’, she told me just this morning. ‘I just want to glorify Jesus, and I want people to know that His word is true’.
As our meeting finished, Mabel prayed for me. After she’d left, I felt renewed, refreshed, more determined to follow Jesus all the way home. And my tenacious one-handed friend helped me to realise that I can’t do anything and everything, but with Christ, I can do a lot more than I think. As we consider how we might live differently in this coming year, let’s be inspired by Mabel’s tenacity and courage. May this be our primary resolution: to glorify Christ, so that others will know that His word is true’. That will certainly make for a happy new year.