God Specializes in Impossible Dreams

In summary of 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 it says, “8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.”

Bottom Line:
Trouble comes, and it may be to a point where you don’t think you can endure.  But we stopped relying on ourselves and instead learned to rely only on God to bring us through (why not, He’s one who could do anything, including raise the dead.)

What this means to me:
Just because I follow Christ does not mean that I’ll have it easy.  Being a follower of Jesus does not automatically eliminate all problems, however it does give me a better understanding of what’s going on and what to do next.  So in my life I will face trouble and it may even result in harm to me or those I love and be hard to endure.  But God puts these things in my life so that I can learn to not trust or just rely upon myself.  Instead these situations drive me closer in putting my faith and hope in the one who can do anything. I should not be surprised when the pursuit of my dream deteriorates from difficult to impossible, I’m in good company as even Paul went through dead ends: "At that time we were completely overwhelmed, the burden was more than we could bear, in fact we told ourselves that this was the end. Yet we believe now that we had this experience of coming to the end of our tether that we might learn to trust, not in ourselves, but in God who can raise the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9 PH)  If God can raise people physically, he can also raise people who are dead emotionally, resurrect a dead marriage, provide guidance in a troubled career and help with health problems.  God may very well let problems become impossibilities for me alone to resolve.  My best response to this is, "He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and He will deliver us; we have placed our hope in Him that He will deliver us again." (2 Corinthians 1:10 HCSB)