With God, Nothing is Impossible

     We’re all hoping, waiting and even longing for some kind of transformation in our lives or circumstances. No matter what we’ve achieved or how much we’ve grown and matured, there’s always another goal or need in the distance. I remember waiting for six long years to get married only to find myself impatiently counting the hours until the birth of our daughters. Right now, I’ve got a room full of dreams, a mixture of desires and needs that I’m asking God to bring to fulfillment. As I examine them some appear more viable than others. A few look completely impossible. But I’m confident that God will accomplish his perfect will for my life, even if it involves moving mountains.

     "What is impossible with men is possible with God" (Lk 18:27). Do you believe it? Do I? I’ve witnessed God do the extraordinary in my own life too many times to count. He’s brought hope when all signs led to absolute despair and wrought deliverance when the wisest counsel declared the situation dire. I’ve been transferred from utter darkness and confusion one day to a panoramic view of hope the next. God has definitely proven that he’s able to do “abundantly more than I can ask for imagine.”

     God says, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jer 32:27. He reminds us from the first day of creation to the resurrection of his Son that his power is unlimited. He’s able to move mountains, part oceans, topple strongholds and heal sickness and diseases. He gives us new hearts, opens our blind eyes and deaf ears to the truth of the Gospel, raises us from death to life. He opens barren wombs, sets the lonely in families, exalts the humble and gives strength to the weak. He heals broken hearts and imparts vision and passion to his people.

     He’s the same God right now that he was thousands of years ago (Heb 13:8). His character and abilities haven’t diminished with time. He’s not run out of power or ceased hearing the prayers of his people. We can go before him in prayer just like Moses and Elijah, Paul and Peter and ask anything in his name, according to his will, and he will do it. When we pray by faith in the name of Jesus he hears us and he answers. Every single time. Whether we’re praying for seemingly irrelevant issues or huge concerns, God hears our cries and he answers (1 Jn 5:14-15).

     Our Father loves us and delights in showing us mercy and compassion. He takes great joy in answering our prayers and revealing his glory in our lives. All we have to do is go to him and ask for help. Our problems may look insurmountable to the human eye but not to God. Nothing is too impossible for him.

Ah Lord God

Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens 
And the earth by Thy great power; 
Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens 
And the earth by Thine outstretched arm. 
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/h/hillsong_united/ah_lord_god.html ]
Nothing is too difficult for Thee, 
Nothing is too difficult for Thee; 

O, great and mighty God, 
Great in power and mighty in deed, 
Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, 
Nothing is too difficult for Thee.

"Be Still and Know That I Am God"

    This has been one of those weeks when I’ve wanted to shout, “Enough!” Enough of the little things that combine to make up the big things which form into a snowball and come at me with increasing momentum.

     We left the girls at Faith Academy after a short visit and returned to Korea where we began our lives apart once again. We returned to an apartment with puddles on the floor and water stains on the wall from a huge storm, a notice that money wasn’t paid by our renters in the states, a lost bag of my favorite jewelry, and a statement from the school that they’d taken a huge portion out of my paycheck for who knows what. These situations, along with missing the girls, formed a lethal mix in my mind.

     I began praying about each problem and asking God to do something, quickly -- to fix it all so that I could feel better about life. But I woke up the next day and the next without any signs of resolution. I read in Luke about the blind man shouting out for healing and Jesus’ instant command that he be made whole, and I felt somewhat cheated. Why not me, Lord?

     Do you ever feel that way, like life is one big basket of mismatched socks that you have to figure out what to do with? Problems drop into our laps with little notice. One second there’s peace; the next chaos. It reminds me of the time last summer when we went down to the ocean with our younger daughter. As she was standing upon a huge rock in the water, smiling in the sunshine, an enormous wave snuck up behind her and literally engulfed her.  She was so shocked by the suddenness of it all that, for a few seconds, she stood there motionless.

     God isn’t surprised by mammoth waves, financial setbacks or anything else. He knows the beginning from the end and whispers to us in these moments of frustration, “Be still and know that I am God.”  I pictured Jesus walking past me on the road this week with me shouting out, much like the blind man, “Son of God, have mercy on me.” And I imagined him saying, “My child, relax. I’ve already healed you. You were once blind, but now you see. You were once in darkness, but now you’re in the light. I’ve put my Spirit upon you, calling you my own. You're no longer an orphan but a child of the King.”

     His word promises that when the waters come up around me they’ll not overtake me, when the fire burns in my life I’ll not be consumed by it (Is 43:2). Because I’m precious and honored in his sight and because he loves me, he promises to take care of me (Is 43:4).

    By faith I can thank him at this very moment in the midst of unsorted socks and a myriad of tangled threads that seem impossibly knotted together. I can praise him for his faithfulness and wisdom in allowing every single one of these inconveniences to occur. I can relax, put my head on a pillow and with a quiet sense of confidence rest in his promises to uphold, strengthen, provide for and encourage me. He will fulfill every last one of his promises which have been sealed by the blood of his own Son. "The one who calls you (and me) is faithful and he will do it” (1 Thes 5:24).

“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?” Rom 8:32

"Grace, Grace, God's Grace"

When life is going smoothly, I look out at the world’s problems and with relative ease shout a hearty “amen” to God’s promises. I sit among those weighted down by burdens and assure them with confidence of God’s faithfulness and competency to abundantly meet all their needs. His promises seem as clear as day, and declaring the truth feels as natural as breathing. But when the tide turns and these same trials engulf me, my heart tends to faint. I enter a protective zone -- preserving myself, begging God to take the trouble away. Those previously at the forefront of my concerns disappear to some obscure place where I can’t see or hear their needs. My own cries take center stage, drowning out the voices of everyone around me. “Help me God,” I cry. “Deliver me from this mess so I can serve you again.”

This week some difficulties formed an alliance, it seems, and overtook me in a weak moment while my armor lay carelessly on the floor. The “what if’s” were right behind them, reminding me that danger and further suffering were looming. Overrun with worries that these somewhat insignificant trials could morph into long-term, life-changing ones I surrendered to paralyzing fear.

As I sat googling my health problems and looking at pictures that resembled something out of a horror movie, the phone rang. It was a sweet young girl who had called me months ago to talk about struggles she was experiencing. Since I’d faced the same challenges, I was able to assure her of God’s faithfulness and his deliverance.  Most importantly, I emphasized the blessing in the trial, that God would use it for good in spite of the pain it was causing her at the moment.  

Her voice was calm and composed as she told me she had some really good news. Her story wasn’t one of instant deliverance like I’d been praying for but one of grace. God brought another hurting person into her life and gave her the joy and insight to encourage them, thus fulfilling his promise in 2 Cor. 1:4. The same comfort that she’d received in her suffering was now overflowing from her heart into the life of another, and the blessing was such that she was filled with joy. She explained that this picture of “God working all things together for good” was a huge turning point in her mind as to how she viewed her hardship. Though she was still struggling to some degree, she could now understand for the first time how God intended to use it as a blessing.

I hung up the phone with the certainty that I was standing on holy ground. I’d been crying out to God for mercy and deliverance, and this was my answer. Her call reminded me to shift my focus from the demand for deliverance to an acceptance of Christ’s grace and mercy in my weakness. Regardless of my circumstances, I needed to rest in God’s peace knowing that he would work them together for my good and use them to bless others. This trial and all the others I've endured aren’t just for me, though I know I’m being changed. Through suffering, he gives me mercy and compassion for people who are also hurting, possibly going through the same hardships.

God is at work in me “to will and to act according to his good purpose.” He’s conforming me and reshaping my desires, using these hardships to help me realize my finiteness and his greatness, to see them side by side in such a way as one would look upon a gigantic mountain from the valley beneath. It’s not to crush me, to overwhelm me, but to deliver me from the disease of self aggrandizement where I think somehow that I’ve arrived and that I deserve what I’ve been given. It’s to set me free to know with absolute conviction that it’s by grace I stand and by grace I succeed at anything.

My friend’s story brought me to tears. I was joyful for her victory through the fulfillment of God’s promises in bringing healing and restoration. And I was grieving my lack of faith and how my own trials had so quickly left me disillusioned. Turning to my husband who was just yards away I asked, “What would I do if I had cancer or some terminal disease? How could I handle it when something this small has freaked me out?” Without even a pause he said, “The same way you’ve gotten through…….” And he began listing off what seemed insurmountable trials in the past. “By God’s grace,” he said with a gentle and accepting face. Before he could finish I was in his arms and crying like a child, thankful that he loved me in spite of myself, and even more thankful that God’s love extended way beyond his.

That’s what the Christian life is all about, isn’t it? Growing, changing, tasting victory and then realizing through yet another trial that while we’ve grown we still have a ways to go. It’s about God’s love so amazingly poured out through his Spirit, his word and his people as together they cheer us on, challenge us, bind up our wounds, and love us when we feel anything but lovable. It’s about us comforting and encouraging others as they go through what we’ve experienced. It’s about amazing grace that God orchestrates in each of our lives as we trust in him.


 "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us" 2 Cor 1:4.