Nothing Is Impossible – Part 1
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 25-01-2015
- 342 views
There is no situation that is permanently difficult. All of us can register success if we want it. As a person, you can achieve anything if you put your mind and effort to it. A community can register impressive development if its members decide to work hard for it. A country grows when the citizens take serious decisions, become determined and inspired, and go out to attain progress.
Social or personal advancement should not be hindered by simple limitations such as local traditions, physical deficiencies, financial inadequacies or other contingent shortcomings. You may all experience wretched conditions but people who get success are ones who strive hard and consistently to overcome the challenges; while those who surrender to the inferior state of affairs can only face failure.
Thus you have a student scoring amazing grades from a ‘third class school’; whereas another attributes poor performance to the sordid state of the same school. You meet a disabled beggar in one corner of the town and a disabled entrepreneur in another corner. In one home, you find a joyful wife whose husband is careless and, in another home, a miserable wife of a similar husband. Your level of success in any field largely depends on your own will.
According to Scripture, nothing is impossible. Genesis 12:1 shows that Abram was told to migrate to a strange land, but he saw it as a blessed opportunity; he obeyed God’s word and never looked back. It was obviously a tough decision to leave his property, relatives and other social trappings but Abram had the courage to take action. Listening to the inner self, he dreamt of a brighter future in terms of a great nation and followed his mind.
Perhaps, you too have heard a divine voice urging you to take hard decisions. Your only required to adhere. Someone would have worried about the evident risks of starting from scratch in an unfamiliar setting but Abram did not. In the pursuit of a higher good, therefore, obstacles and limitations mean nothing.
For a long time, Abraham did not get what God had promised him but his faith never diminished. At the age of 100, he did not have an heir and his wife, Sarah, was similarly so old. The couple’s reproductive ability was ‘past expiry date’ and they were shocked when God’s angel told them to expect a son. Sarah said, “… I am old and worn and my husband is an old man”. The Angel answered, “Is there anything that is impossible for God?” (Genesis 18:14). Later, Isaac was born as predicted.
God is always available to bless your effort if you take courage to pursue success against all odds. You need confidence and determination, capped by the grace of God, to register success in any situation. In David’s song of deliverance, he chants, “In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can climb any wall” (2 Samuel 22:30).
How can a woman become pregnant without a man, sex or any form of insemination? Mary was a virgin and unmarried. However, Angel Gabriel declared that she would become pregnant. Mary initially did not understand the Angel’s message. She was greatly troubled by the Angel’s pronouncement. However, the Angel provided very instructive counsel, “With God, nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37). Indeed, she conceived without sex and bore Jesus.
Why did Jesus Christ not give up during the Gethsemane episode? It was here that he faced untold grief as he thought about his looming death. However, he did not surrender to despair. He found assurance in the unfailing power of God which he acknowledged in his penultimate prayer, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you... (Mark 14:36). Whenever you face trials in your life, it is important to remember to say this prayer.
The Bible also presents a story of a man whose son was born epileptic. In search of divine therapy, the man prayed to Jesus Christ, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus did not like the man’s partial conviction about the possibility of his son’s healing. He replied, “Why do you say ‘if you can’? All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). In a sense, the man needed to fortify his petition with faith and wait for the results. We also learn that when one believes, the automatic result is success.
Once, the disciples tried and failed to expel a demon from an epileptic boy but Jesus ejected it easily. They asked him what magic he had used and he said, “… if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here… and (it would) obey. Nothing would be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). This shows the power of faith.
At Bethany, Jesus Christ further taught his disciples about the force of willpower. They asked him how he had managed to curse a fig tree and it dried in one day. Jesus told them, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it shall be done for you” (Mark 11:24). This shows that effective prayer derives its force from faith in God’s power.
Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man also highlights everyone’s limitless ability to excel. The disciples became nervous when Jesus told the rich man that although he kept all the commandments, he also needed to sell all his property and give the proceeds to the poor. The disciples felt that this was a harsh requirement and wondered, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus told them, “…for God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:25-26).
In his prayer, Jeremiah proclaims the boundless power of God. He says, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, you have made the heavens and the earth with your great power and mighty deeds. Nothing is impossible for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). Compared to the entire creation that God put into place, the needs of your community, family or yourself are only too easy for God to deliver.
During the wedding at Canna, “… they had run out of wine… Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water….’ When the steward tasted the water, it had become wine…” (John 2:3-10). The moral is that there is a solution to every hopeless condition. At Bethany, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead; saying, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37)
Venansio Ahabwe is a lay Christian in the Archdiocese of Mbarara.
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine