God of the Impossible

Is anything too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18:14

Abraham was to have a son, though both he and his wife Sarah were well on in years. But the Lord assured him: “Is anything  too hard for the Lord?” A similar thing happened to Mary, two thousand years later. She, too, could not quite believe that she was to receive a son. Yet the angel told her, “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).

Jesus himself said the same thing when he told his disciples that it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Dismayed, the disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:23–26).

Through his own deeds, Jesus demonstrated that nothing was impossible for God. He performed mighty deeds that were human impossibilities. In this way he gave our faith a completely new direction. He changed water into wine, multiplied a small amount of bread and fish while he gave thanks, awakened Lazarus from the dead. Sheer miracles, which so many of today’s clear heads cannot grasp. But for those who believe, Jesus is showing us God’s love and that he can do what seems to us impossible.

This certainty of faith ought to continue today. We need not expect such great miracles everywhere. But if necessary, God can do the impossible. This is the kind of God we serve, and he wants us to show it.

Just as God created heaven and earth out of nothing, so he can create something out of nothing now. He can still change water into wine, multiply bread, and raise the dead. Such is our God. His kingdom will not be complete until a great flock who believe that God can do even the impossible, comes into being again. God wants to do something that only he can do. And he will do it again, because only he can end all the sighing and groaning of creation.

Johann Christoph Blumhardt