Learning to Trust God for the Impossible

In Luke 18:27 it says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (NIV)

At times, we may feel like we're in an impossible situation. It may be a marriage that is on the brink of divorce. It could be financial problems (bankruptcy) that is right around the corner. It can be a chronic illness that has come to define every area of life.

The situation may be out of our control, but it’s not out of God’s.

That’s one lesson we can learn from the life of Abraham. God told 75-year-old Abraham to leave everything he knew and go to a land he had never seen (Genesis 12:4). And God also told Abraham that he would one day father a whole nation, even though he and his wife, Sarah, had no children and were quite old by then.

But Abraham believed in God. Romans 4:17 says, “[Abraham] is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not” (NIV).

This verse gives the definition of a miracle: when God gives life to something that was dead or when he creates something out of nothing.

God can give life to a dead career, a dead marriage, dead dreams, and dead finances. And he can make something out of nothing.

Jesus said, “All things are possible for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23 NCV).

But it’s important to understand who Abraham believed in. He didn’t believe in himself. He didn’t believe in his feelings. He didn’t put his faith in faith, either. Romans 4:17 says Abraham believed in God.

The object of his faith was God—nothing else.

While I believe in the power of positive thinking, positive thinking and faith are not the same. Positive thinking only works when we have control over the situation. It’s worthless if the situation is out of our control. When we’re at a dead end, we need something more than a happy thought.

We need to place our faith in God because “what is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27 NIV).

One impossible situation that comes to mind is back when my wife and I were in severe debt. We had nowhere to turn to. I did go to God and asked him for help. He brought into our life the right people to provide guidance and materials to help us rethink our situation and plan out a way forward. The fix was not immediate or an overnight success. It led us on a journey where we sacrificed as we stepped out and trusted in God for the outcome.

Often when we see things only from a worldly or our part of view we think things are impossible or there is no way to correct it.  During those times it's hard to look to and trust God, because we are only thinking about what we can humanly do on our own.