I noticed my toddler picked up the phrase “I can’t do it” and I started to think about it. When we feel defeated it’s easy to say I can’t do it. Even if we say it to ourselves we still do it. And we tend to get the advice that we shouldn’t say that we can’t, we should be willing to try even if we fail.

I’m not saying that’s bad advice but I feel as a person who follows Jesus we may want to reconsider how we think about this.

The truth is we know that we can’t do anything without God. So there is truth in that statement. We really can’t do it without God. But when we feel like saying that we need to remind ourselves that if it’s God’s will he will be our help. We need to do our part and he will help us do even the impossible.

Hebrews 4:16 says Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.

And this is the key, that we draw near to God. Drawing nearer to him means that we come closer to aligning with what he wants. Therefore, the things that we want need to be in alignment with him. So in the context of thinking that we can’t do that thing that he is calling us to do, we can have all confidence that he will be our help when we need it.

So the next time we want to say I can’t do it….let’s change it to …I can’t do it but with God, I can.