Impossible

Take a beat, and consider the most unlikely scenario of change you could possibly envision. I mean, really put your brain on some marvel you would pay good money to see. Somewhere, I’ll bet, there’s a major mountain of dreadful, insurmountable, unmanageable, unattainable, irresolvable substance that is standing implacably in your path this very second, barring that outcome. What would it take to see that mountain move?

It’s the nature of human life to cherish high goals, splendid expectations, or exalted ambitions. Against all odds, hope is the fuel that keeps us going. But that doesn’t make us immune from that gargantuan, mysterious, impenetrable wall where the impossible stops us dead in our tracks. Maybe our hope gets butchered when it comes to seeing a dysfunctional relationship transformed, a long-term health issue healed or a traumatic wounding of the past finally dissolved. These kinds of enemies crippling us, abound. Just another mental ball and chain we slavishly drag around.

Welcome to the season that celebrates one grand impossibility after another. One of the most striking aspects of Christ's birth is that it showcases how easily the Lord defies our dead-end realities and limited concepts. One after the other, out of nowhere without warning, God overturns natural and carnal laws to usher in Emmanuel. An aged, barren woman becomes fertile again. An innocent virgin is told she’s pregnant. The offended mind of a man in love gets changed. After four hundred years of silence, angel choirs split the night, announcing God is not dead, but newly born in the rankest of stations. A brilliant star guides the unlikeliest of magicians to the scene of a miracle. A king’s ransom is delivered to an infant barely dry. These are but a few of the incredible rule-shattering moments that characterize the nativity.

According to classic dictionary definition, Impossible means that which is not able to occur, exist, or be done: unable to be attained, fulfilled or achieved. In fact, human beings are all too aware of what possible and impossible mean, as we test them on a daily basis. But that’s just how people think. The Lord entertains a totally different mindset.

…The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. 1 Samuel 15:29 NKJV

And Jesus said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27

When we come up against the morose impregnables of life, we need a balancing truth to keep us aligned with reality. Number one: God is not a liar. Scripture is His word, the revelation of His character and intent, and you may stake your life upon it. If He said it, you can have it. Number two: God is not affected by the phenomenon we call ‘impossibility”. The great “I AM” is also the great “I CAN”. Combine these two truths, and you will find yourself in Hebrews 6:16-18. The anchor of His oath and His promise always keep us from despair. This is strong medicine.

For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

So much for the impossible. This is where we root our soul and break through three-quarters of life’s barriers. Faith is actual substance, so I'm hanging on. I can’t even describe the levels of peace that started to penetrate every area when I simply let myself believe, and rest upon, the unchanging faithfulness of God. He will not fail. He will fulfill what He has promised. He will accomplish His word. It’s not a question of if, but when. This is exactly the child-like faith Jesus is talking about. Don’t make it more complicated than it actually is. We simply decide we’re going to believe Him above every relentless 'fact' pounding around us. We’re going to rest under the shadow of His character; the only way we can come close to loving ourselves and others the way we’re supposed to.

When I find my thoughts wallowing in fear, discouragement or contempt at the perfidy of people and relationships, I take a grip and remember who I’m dealing with. It’s time to step back into the sacred circle of the manger, and bask in Emmanuel. In faith’s purging light, self-hatred, paranoid tension and vain embitterment melt away. Strong consolation is come, and with Him, unlimited potentialities and supernatural possibilities.

For with God, nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37

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