"I Can Do All Things"

Last night, in family scripture study, we read Philippians chapter 4, which included the popular line, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (verse 13). Later, I opened up the Book of Mormon and found Alma 26:12

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. (Emphasis Added)

I think God's trying to tell me something. Maybe I should blog about it.

I understand that miracles can happen and that they do happen sometimes. It's just that they're usually subtle, and they're usually done by God, behind-the-scenes so to speak. I understand that nothing is impossible for God. But is God really able and willing to share that power with us? There are some things that we just can't do, even with God's help, aren't there?

Since typing that made me feel unbelievably stupid, I'm guessing that A) God is definitely able and probably occasionally willing to share portions of His power with us and B) that when we have God's help, we'll have all the power/wisdom/will-power to do anything we really need to do. I wonder why this is such a hard concept for me to grasp. Perhaps I've spent so much time being a human that I can't imagine myself ever actually wielding a portion of the power of God. And just now, it hit me - I already do.

The Priesthood (according to the Sunday School answers I memorized as a child) is defined as the power and authority to act in God's name. Mostly, this involves standing in God's place to perform sacred ordinances, but there are times when the Priesthood is used to work miracles, usually healing. Still, I mostly see it as asking God to do the healing, rather than being given the power to do the healing myself. Healing another person seems so magical that I can hardly imagine any real person actually having the power to do it. Sure, people's bodies naturally heal themselves, and doctors have the skill and knowledge to help the process along, but no one can really heal someone else by putting their hands on their heads and saying a few words, can they? That's... difficult to swallow.

Yet, the theory is sound. If God can really do whatever He wants, if He actually is omnipotent, which I truly believe He is, then couldn't He, if He chose to, give a normal person even a "magical" ability, like healing? And if He can give someone healing powers, then couldn't He also give someone the ability to move mountains or part oceans or any other power God wanted to give them? Theoretically, God's power includes the ability to share His power, even with normal, everyday people like us. Sure, God could just move the mountains and part the waters for us, but if He wanted us to do it, He could certainly give us the power to.

That's... amazing. To think that God not only works miracles in our favor, but that He also, sometimes, might let us work a few miracles. It seems unreal. It seems too good to be true.

My only hang-up with this concept now, now that we've established that God could share His power with us, is the question of whether He would do it. I don't think God is selfishly hoarding His power by holding it back from us, but I'm also pretty sure that He's not stupid. You don't give magical powers to people who'll misuse them, unless you're actively trying to cause random chaos and destruction, and that doesn't match up with what I know of God. There's no way God is foolish enough to hand out superpowers to anyone and everyone, which may be part of the reason He doesn't often share such power with us. We need to show we're wise enough to handle such power (which in fact, is a large part of the reason we're here on Earth - To show how we use what power we already have before we're granted any more).

Another part of the reason that God doesn't share such power freely is because we don't really need it. I can think of dozens of reasons why it'd be nice to have telekinesis, but none of them are really all that important. We can all make do without it. In fact, most of us manage to get by using only the powers we already have. Sure, there are some exceptional circumstances that require divine assistance, and if at that time, we're ready and worthy, God may see fit to work the miracle through us rather than doing it Himself, but in most cases, we already have all the power we need.

But that's a miracle in and of itself, if you think about it that way. The human body can do extraordinary things (if you don't believe me, watch the Olympics), and the human mind can do even more. Watch a rocket take off, or try to figure out how your computer works. People invented those things using the knowledge and intelligence God gave them. Doctors heal people with knowledge. Preachers inspire people and change hearts with a combination of knowledge and wisdom. That's some incredibly powerful stuff that regular human beings can already do. And God's offering us more power on top of all that? That's incredible!

Yes, we have to prove worthy of it, and yes, it can take a long time to do that, but in the meantime, we're not as powerless as we think we are. Yeah, we're a long way from being omnipotent, but there are lots of amazing things we can do, and with God's help, we can do even more, even anything. God has plans for us, and if we follow His plans, we'll end up being so amazing, we won't even recognize ourselves. God wants to share His power with us as a part of giving us all that He has. And the fact that we have the potential to live up to that... That's absolutely incredible.