Possible Impossibilities

I have always categorized myself as one with ‘stubborn faith’. Stubborn in the sense that I tell God “Dad, I have 2 options: it’s either You help me, or You help me. I have no one else to turn to. So I’ll just sit here and have a staring match with You until You help me.” But in the last few weeks, I found myself struggling with something I’ve never struggled with before: unbelief! My so-called “stubborn faith” had been slowly starving, slowly dying, slowly getting extinguished – and in its place, doubt, skepticism, hopelessness, and resignation to the status quo had sprung up and taken root. So vast was my unbelief that on a couple of occasions I found myself suffocating; clasped in the crushing embrace of a stifling anxiety attack; terrified that I had somehow missed God’s “miracle window”.

One particular morning, as I went through the deliberate exercise of taking slow deep breaths in an effort to unclench anxiety’s talons from deep within my heart, I knew that I needed to nip this doubting mindset in the bud before it completely consumed my joy.  As I concentrated on breathing, the gears of my brain spun wildly as I frantically searched through my memorized scriptures for a verse that would give me comfort – and I zeroed in on this one: Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  – Matthew 19:26. The verse was enough to dissipate the anxiety; but I was not quite ready to uproot the doubt.

A few years ago, a girlfriend gave me a birthday present; a holder of sorts with bible verses written on index cards. The idea is that you are to meditate on one each day. I received the gift with joy; used it for all of two weeks, and in the busyness of life, it got shoved onto a shelf in the walk-in pantry – where it quickly went forgotten for a few years. On the evening of the same day when I had the anxiety attack, I walked into the pantry to look for something. As I straightened up from my stooped over position, there in my direct line of sight was the scripture holder. If you know how God works I’m sure by now you have already guessed what the front facing card was. Yup! “For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) I laughed. Out loud actually. I knew it wasn’t a coincidence that I would encounter the same verse twice in one doubt-filled day. I took the holder from the pantry, placed it on the table and just stared at it for a while. I said, “okay God, you have my attention”.

Before I slept that night, I took the card to bed and decided to meditate on this verse “For nothing is impossible with God”. Six. Simple. Words. I looked up the words “nothing” and “possible” in the dictionary. Nothing means no  trace; no significance; no magnitude; trivial; nonexistent. Possible means practicable; feasible; that which takes place without prevention by insurmountable obstacles. And the word insurmountable means incapable of being overcome. Now armed with this expanded meaning of the three words, I asked the Holy Spirit to further reveal the truth of this scripture to me.

All together, the verse can be expanded as follows: No matter the seriousness/magnitude of the obstacles we encounter, and no matter how impossible it is for us to overcome them, from God’s perspective, He sees the “obstacles” as non-entities; nonexistent; insignificant. No “obstacle” can hinder God’s will. Period. So now, through this lens, let us revisit some incredible events we have read a number of times before:

Jesus wanted to catch up to His disciples who had gone ahead of Him, and so He walked to where they were. Period. The fact that there was a lake along the path was inconsequential to Jesus – He walked seamlessly from land to water; never skipping a beat. (Matthew 14)

Jesus wanted to heal Lazarus, and so He did. Period. The fact that Lazarus had been dead and decomposing for 4 days was inconsequential to Jesus. (John 11)

Jesus wanted to feed the 5,000+ people who had come to hear Him preach, and so He did. Period. The fact that the only food in the vicinity was 5 loaves and 2 fish was inconsequential to Jesus. (Matthew 14)

God wanted to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and relocate them to the promised land Caanan, and so He did. Period. An unwilling Pharoah, an uncrossable Red Sea, the wilderness, and the enemies’ armies were inconsequential to God.

God wanted to bless Sarah and Abraham with baby Isaac, and so He did. Period. The fact that their reproductive systems were pretty much dead, or the fact that they tried to fabricate the miracle by using Hagar was inconsequential to God. (Genesis 18 and Genesis 21)

God wanted Peter out of prison and so He escorted him out. Period. The fact that Peter was in an impenetrable prison, chained, and under 24/7 four-guard watch was inconsequential to God. (Acts 12)

And on and on the stories go…. You get the point.

From God’s perspective, He simply does not see obstacles or impossibilities; what He sees is His will. He watches carefully over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). Nothing can frustrate/stand in the way of the will of God. We need to start believing this truth. We need to start seeing our situations through God’s eyes…not through our limited sight, thoughts and capacities.

So let me ask you this…What “insurmountable obstacles” stand in the way of your God-given goals? Maybe your list of “unanswered prayers” is a mile high and faith in a ‘God of the impossible’ is the furthest thing from your heart and mind. What situations have you so hopeless, doubt-filled and in despair? Is it health issues, unemployment, financial troubles, unsaved loved ones, battle with addictions, troubled relationships, grief, strife, unfulfilled dreams/desires, things just not working out no matter how many avenues you try…? Through His word, what does God say His will is concerning that situation? Study the scriptures related to your circumstances and encourage yourself with them. For example…

• Per Matthew 6 and Philippians 4, if I seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, God has promised to provide my daily bread and to supply all my needs according to His riches in glory – and so I believe that HE WILL. The fact that I am currently unemployed has no bearing on His ability to provide.
• Why don’t you try it? Stir up your faith and say it out loud even …. Per [insert scripture] God, Your will concerning my situation is [ABC]. The fact that [XYZ] is happening to the contrary is of no consequence to You my Lord. In Your timing and in accordance to Your will, You will bring [ABC] to pass.

If an obstacle as vast as the Red Sea was parted by God through the raising of Moses’ staff, or a wall as strong as the one that surrounded Jericho was brought down by God through a trumpet sound and a loud shout, what really can be impossible with God?  With the word of His mouth He created the heavens and the earth. What then is He incapable of doing concerning your situation? Rather than wallow in doubt, unbelief and hopelessness – like I was doing – let us instead pick ourselves up, rebuke the doubt, renew our faith, and encourage ourselves in the Lord using His word.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8: 31-32)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

A friend of mine sent me this song below that I think speaks so beautifully to this topic. Take a listen and be encouraged.

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