Nothing Is Impossible – Part 2
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 15-02-2015
- 547 views
Victory is more a state of mind than a hard reality. It is an attitude. The Bible shows that the only thing you need to succeed is faith. As they were fleeing from Egypt, the Israelites thought they had come to the end of the road when they stumbled upon the Red Sea. This posed a very serious danger since the Egyptians followed them with chariots and warriors. The Israelites would have perished by either being slaughtered or drowning into the sea. They saw no chance of possible survival. However, “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh made a strong east wind blow…. The waters divided and the sons of Israel walked on dry ground through the middle of the sea, with the waters forming a wall on their right and to their left” (Exodus 14:21-22).
Later on, they entered a desert where lack of water is a natural condition. They suffered without drinking water both for themselves and their animals. Yet, God gave them water; “Moses raised his hand and struck the rock… then water in abundance gushed out for the community and their livestock to drink” (Numbers 20:11).
Peter was an ordinary person but he managed to walk on water. The apostles were terrified to see Jesus majestically walking on water, but Peter was the only one who gathered confidence and sought the grace to walk on water too. “Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus … (later) he was afraid and began to sink…” (Matthew 14:29-30). Peter managed to walk on water as long as he had the faith and courage to do so. It is only when he lost confidence that he began to sink.
David was very young and armed with only stones and a sling, when he confronted Goliath in the battlefield. On the other hand, Goliath “…was about three metres tall. He wore a helmet of bronze and a coat covered with bronze scales. His armour weighed sixty kilos. He had bronze gloves strapped on his legs and a bronze spear slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was the size of a weaver’s rod; its head weighed seven kilos. His shield-bearer went before him. This did not scare David and he told Saul, “Let no one be discouraged by this Philistine….” Saul warned David, “You cannot fight with this Philistine (but) David… rushed to the battleground and struck the Philistine on the forehead… and he fell on his face to the ground…. David triumphed…” (1 Samuel 17: 4-58). David’s victory was guaranteed by his attitude and determination, propped by God’s blessing.
The gospel of St Mark presents a story of an official of the synagogue, named Jairus, who displayed amazing faith when his daughter was at the verge of death and he asked Jesus to intervene. As Jesus headed there, information came that the girl was already dead. People told Jairus, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Master any further... Jesus ignored what they said and told the official, ‘Do not fear. Just believe?’…. Jesus entered and said to them, ‘The child is not dead but asleep’. They laughed at him…. The girl got up at once and began to walk around” (Mark 5:35-42).
King Herod killed two brotherly apostles: James and John. He also arrested and imprisoned Peter, with the intention of killing him too. “Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound by a double chain, while guards kept watch at the gate of the prison…. The angel… woke him up…. At once, the chains fell from Peter’s wrists…. They passed the first guard, then the second… and the iron door leading out to the city, which opened of itself…. They went out…” (Acts 12:1-10). We see that when Peter dreamt of freedom, the jail doors just opened up.
When Lazarus of Bethany died, many people from the neighbourhood turned up to condole with the bereaved family of Martha and Mary. Jesus had missed seeing Lazarus during his sickness and only arrived long after the burial. People believed that the body was already rotting. Jesus asked them to reopen the tomb but he was told, “Lord, by now he will smell, for this is the fourth day” (v.39). Jesus, nonetheless, “…cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out…” (John 11:1-44).
In the town of Naim lived a widow who lost lose his only son. What the community members could do was to gather at her home and bury the young man. Jesus met the mourners at the gate of the town while they were taking the dead body to the grave. Everyone believed the situation was irreversible. The widow was sorrowful, “When the Lord saw her, he had pity on her… he came up and touched the stretcher… then said, ‘Young man, I say to you, wake up’. And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:11-15). Nothing is impossible.
After Jesus’ crucifixion, the Pharisees and chief priests wanted to ensure that he remained in the tomb. “So they went to the tomb …… sealed the stone and secured it” (Matthew 27:66). However,”…an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came to the stone, rolled it from the entrance of the tomb…. (Matthew 28:2-4). This was according to his earlier prophecy, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, but three days after he has been killed, he will rise (Mark 9:31). With faith in God, no situation is out of hand.
Venansio Ahabwe is a lay Christian in the Archdiocese of Mbarara.
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine