The God of the Impossible

I just spoke with one of my dearest friends and just learned of God answering prayer in the lives of some other friends. We have been praying for a long time--I've prayed, my husband has prayed faithfully every single day, friends have prayed. But honestly, the situation looked utterly hopeless. And much to my shame, I prayed... but without much true trust. I knew God could do it, but deep down inside, I think I doubted He would do it. Shame on me. We worship an Almighty God who can do anything and everything--and I think I had forgotten that. And I think I had forgotten about the awesome power of prayer. We need to stop second guessing our prayers. Stop trying to edit them to allow God wriggle room--which is really wiggle room for our doubts and fears--and just pray fervently and trustingly in our Heavenly Father who delights to answer in BIG ways!

I couldn't help but think of Charles Hadden Spurgeon. One day he was with a group of seminary students and called on one of them to pray for some need. The young man went on and on, using big words and big titles for God, and finally Spurgeon interrupted him. "Young man, just call Him 'Father,' and ask Him for something." We need to ask Him and not be afraid to ask Him for the impossible! Another one of my very favorite quotes is from D.L. Moody: "If God be your partner, make large plans." O Lord, help us to make large plans, because we trust fully in You, the ultimate Planner and Controller and Enabler!

"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37 I'm trying to figure out what is excluded from "nothing!" Hmm, I'm thinking the Greek for "nothing" is "nothing." Or how about Jesus' words, "With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." Mt.19:26 Can you figure out how to limit the word "all?" I sure can't. God can do all things... or another way to put that would be "God can do ALL THINGS!" He can heal and restore bodies, marriages, hearts, minds, relationships, memories and on and on.

The question is, will we pray in faith, trusting that He who knows all and can do all, will provide the most perfect outcome? It may not be the outcome we would choose, but if He has all knowledge, all power, and all love, we can place it in His hands with child-like trust and abandon. You know, sometimes it's easier doing this with the big things than it is with the little things. It can be easier, I've found, to hand Him that loved one's serious illness and trust Him with the result than to hand Him my child's poor attitude or my overburdened schedule or my frustrating habits of clutter or procrastination or reacting rather than being proactive. My tendency, when things go awry, is to default to doubt and worry rather than immediately responding with trustful prayer and worship that my God is Almighty and active and able.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Look around you. Just this morning, I looked up in the predawn darkness and saw the most spectacular, glowing harvest moon that hovered low in the sky so all could see it and marvel. What kind of God can make something so glorious?! Our God who can do all things and delights to make a creation for His created ones to enjoy! When we see answered prayer, we need to stop and thank Him and remember those answers to fortify us for the times when the answers seem a bit longer in coming... at least according to our timetable. The hug of a child, the phone call of encouragement, the blessing of a book, the laughter in the midst of stress, the gift of a song in our sorrow, the impossible made possible by our loving Father--we must choose to see, really see, and then translate each into trust for the Omnipotent Hand that provided each one.

So today, might we choose to trust the God of the Impossible--in the big and scary and hard places of our lives, but also in the mundane and the minutia. He cares about it all; He hears it all; and He has all the power to do it all, in His perfect wisdom and love. To our Heavenly Father be all the glory.