We Christians are very familiar with Philippians 4:13, where the apostle Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” But how many of us correctly understand the context for this classic verse? Trust me, the context has nothing to do with achieving any type of worldly success for Jesus.

Truth be told, Paul was in prison when he wrote the book of Philippians, even though there is some debate as to the exact location of his imprisonment. Most scholars believe he wrote Philippians during his imprisonment in Rome, but others contend he wrote it during an imprisonment in Caesarea. A few others even go with the idea of an Ephesus imprisonment. For the purposes of this post, though, let’s not get lost in the weeds of that debate. The fact we want to fixate upon is that it was a prisoner who confidently affirmed that he could do all things through Christ!

Through Christ, Paul could even have escaped his imprisonment if that had been God’s will. Acts 5:17-25 tells us that an angel had once opened a set of prison doors in Jerusalem to allow the apostles to go free, and Acts 12:5-19 describes another occasion wherein an angel had led Peter out of another Jerusalem cell. These two passages prove that Paul could have experienced the same kind of escape if God had wanted it to happen. But can’t we say that it actually took more strength for Paul to remain in prison than it would have taken for him to get busted out by an angel? That’s a whole different level of strength on display right there.

I don’t know what your current circumstance is, but I know enough about life to feel safe in assuming that somebody out there right now is sitting in some kind of “prison” (a metaphorical one if not a literal one). And if that’s you, I just want to encourage you that you really can do all things through Christ. That includes enduring life inside your “prison.”

So, I ask you, “Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior?” If you do then the strength you need to endure whatever life throws at you will come via God the Holy Spirit, who dwells inside each Christian. You see, it is the indwelling Holy Spirit who makes Philippians 4:13 applicable for any situation the Christian will ever face. That includes situations we would call “mountaintops” as well as situations we would call “valleys,” and it includes sites we would call “penthouses” as well as sites we would call “prisons.”