What’s something you long to see God do, but if you’re honest, you’ve already written it off as impossible. The return of a wandering child? The salvation of a scoffing friend or relative? The conquering of a besetting sin? Maybe you would never come right out and say it’s impossible, but it seems so unlikely that you’ve stopped praying for it. Or maybe you’ve never bothered to ask God in the first place.
As impossible as the angel’s promise to Zechariah must have sounded – a barren woman conceiving in her old age – the promise to Mary was even more confounding. How could a virgin conceive and bear a son? To which the Angel Gabriel responds:
“Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:38)
For God the Son to add a human nature to his divine nature, this would require a divine act and a unique, never-to-be-replicated conception. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” The Most High knows no obstacles.
I was reminded of something Jesus would later say to his disciples after his sad interaction with the rich, young man (Matthew 19:16-30). After telling them that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” they naturally ask, “Who then can be saved?”
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Each and every sinner who repents and believes and is saved by grace is a divine act and an demonstration that nothing is impossible with God.
Jesus would work hard to get this truth into his disciple’s heads. When he tells them to feed lunch to thousands with a few loaves and fish, and they do! When he tells Peter to let down his nets into the same waters he’s just spent the night fishing unsuccessfully, and pulls up a netful of more fish than he’d ever seen, he’s showing them that nothing is impossible with God. We could use a fresh reminder of this, couldn’t we?
Erik Thoennes will be preaching Luke 1:26-38 this Sunday and Kenny Clark will be leading our sung worship. Please pray for each as they prepare. And let’s pray the Lord would increase our faith in his limitless power and His promises to do the impossible through His church and not give up.
See you Sunday, Grace. Come hungry!
Song Link of the Week
Nothing Is Too Hard for You by the Wildebeats (Yes, this is an Adventure Week song!)