Possible?

„You can do anything - just believe in yourself!“ Does that sound familiar? It’s one of those standard secular lies. It sounds astonishingly similar to Jesus’ statement „If you have faith, you can tell a mountain to move“ (Mt 17,20), or like Paul’s saying „I can do all things through Christ“ (Phil 4,13). 

The obvious difference is of course, that Jesus and Paul relate the power of achieving things to faith in God, not in yourself.  The secular belief is that you simply have to have faith - it doesn’t matter in what. It’s the faith that makes it happen. And to a degree, that works. Just like the magicians in Exodus could reproduce Moses’ „magic tricks“ before the Pharaoh to some degree - and thus for a while discredited Moses and tricked the Pharaoh.

I admit that I struggle to comprehend Jesus’ promise that only you have to have faith, and you can move a mountain. I do understand it in a figurative sense. Healings, transformation, success do happen with prayer - but not always. Our will is not always God’s will, even if we have great faith. Neither do people with faith in themselves always succeed.

Paul's saying is translated in some Bibles as „I can do all things“ and in others as „I can do all THESE things“, referring to the previous account of Paul’s various life circumstances. One word makes a big difference. „All things“ sounds like magic: „My faith has the power!“ As children, we believed in magic. As grownups we ought to believe in miracles. Miracles praise God. Magic praises our own self. „All THESE things“ refers to the miracle of God’s provision: „I have faith in the power of God!“

Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith in your power to move through us!