Faith, the size of a mustard seed can move mountains.
I am currently reading through Genesis with a friend of mine. We touch base every few days through e-mail and share our thoughts and questions. We both were being nudged into some kind of Bible study and had been unable to find one that worked with our schedules. We just decided to make it happen. As two busy moms, our system is working out beautifully.
I was reading through the Abraham and Sarah story when a verse jumped out at me. Abraham was visited by three strangers. There is much debate on who they actually were. Some Bible versions say at least two were angels. The NIV says one may have been the Lord. Abraham refers to one as the Lord. They have come to visit Abraham and tell him his wife who is 90 years old, will have a child. Sarah doesn’t believe it and actually laughs. Here’s the verse: “Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:14 Sarah does in fact, have a son. I remembered reading a very similar verse in the New Testament.
The second scripture that I was reminded of is also a birth story. A young unmarried girl named Mary, is visited by the angel Gabriel and told she will have a son. When she asks how that can be possible, the angel replies : “For nothing is impossible with God.” Matthew 19:26 Of course, this came true when Mary gave birth to Jesus just as the angel said.
Then in Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Jesus himself is telling us all things are possible with God.
Let’s think about this for a minute. We have an Old Testament verse and two Gospel verses. The words come from the Lord, an angel and Jesus. They are: nothing is impossible for God and all things are possible with God. Read that sentence again. As Christians, knowing that, we should be able to strike out into the world and do all we are called to do, no worries or anxiety whatsoever, right?
It’s not quite that simple. Our human side seems to always struggle with our spiritual side. Whether we are called to do something really big like go out in the missionary field or start a church or something smaller like attend church every Sunday, read the Bible everyday, start a Bible study or start a blog, we have a million excuses why we can’t. We don’t have enough time or enough money or enough knowledge or enough patience or enough…. (You fill in the blank here) We tell ourselves it’s just not possible right now.
But and here’s the big but, “All things are possible with God.” I think the biggest reason we don’t do what we are called to do is fear, fear that we will look silly, fear that we will fail, fear that we may have to be uncomfortable or just un-named fear. I think that’s okay. I think God totally understands our inability to grasp His complex plan for this thing we call life. I think He understands and He loves us anyway. Mary asked how Gabriel’s message could be possible. Sarah laughed when she heard she would have a baby. Did God strike them down for questioning? No, He reassured them and followed through on His promises.
What have you been called to do today or lately? Have you been feeling some kind of nudge to “do something” you don’t normally do? If so, say a prayer and go forth remembering, “Nothing is impossible with God.”
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂