Accomplishing the Impossible
By Jeremy Miller
Two years ago I was faced with a task that seemed impossible to me: I needed to complete seminary. I was working full time at the church already, was married, and did a lot of ministry outside of normal work hours. On top of it all, my wife, who is a nurse, was expecting our first child.
I just didn’t know how I would find enough hours in the day. On the plus side, the seminary I had chosen did not require graduates to write a thesis.
Then I found out I was required to write a thesis, and my wife went back to work.
And we had another kid.
Let me put this in perspective – for much of my life, my default setting has been “If I don’t know how to do something, I procrastinate until it’s too late.” This time, that wasn’t an option. I was up against an impossible-seeming task but one I believed the Lord wanted me to conquer.
Two years later, it’s done.
It seemed impossible every step of the way. I truly did not see the finish line up until the moment my thesis was done, okayed, and I was about to graduate. I put one foot in front of the other, and eventually it was done.
The reason I mention this is that we all face uncertainty in our lives and impossible-seeming tasks. We don’t always know how to climb the obstacles that come our way. Sometimes we are at a total loss, but we have a calling from the Lord that says we have to go through it.
What I’ve learned is that the only way forward in life is through these tasks that seem impossible – otherwise we stay stuck.
Here’s what I’ve learned are the three questions you ought to ask yourself when you face an “impossible” problem
1.) What do you have?
Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
- 2 Peter 1:3
It’s easy to look at our circumstances and think that we’re coming up short. We don’t have everything we need to do everything that we want.
But the Bible assures us that God has given us what we need right now for what He wants us to do. This ought to fill us with faith, knowing that every step of the way, God will give us what we need pertaining to “life and godliness.” Instead of focusing on what we don’t have, realize that the key lies in something that you do have.
In Exodus 3:10-11, Moses is overwhelmed with the task that God has given him, and he comes up with excuses for why he can’t do it.
God, in chapter 4, asks him, “What is that in your hand?” and Moses tells Him, “A staff.”
Moses wasn’t looking at what he already had – he was dreaming of the oratory ability of others or maybe the wealth of the pharaoh. He was so blinded by looking at his lack that he missed his staff, representative of his occupation, experience, and training as a shepherd.
He couldn’t see how shepherding would come in handy, but it was exactly what he needed. God wanted someone to shepherd Israel, to lead them, to keep them on the narrow path, to protect them and to watch over them. In retrospect, we are able to see how necessary this experience was to the task at hand.
What do you have?
2.) How Can I Lay Down What I Have Before the Lord?
Immediately after, in chapter 4, God tells Moses to throw his staff on the ground. He does, and it becomes a serpent. Then God tells Moses to grab it, and it becomes a staff again. God tells him that He has given this miraculous sign to Moses to verify his claims.
The important thing for us is that when Moses took what he had in his hand and laid it before the Lord, God turned it into something miraculous.
Own innate abilities will only get us so far. Effort is insufficient. At a certain point, we are only spinning our wheels if God is not in what we’re doing.
On our own, we are not smart enough, strong enough, or clever enough to accomplish the impossible, but when we lay down what we have before God, He can turn it into a miracle.
Remember the young boy from John 6:5-9? Same thing. He lays what he has (a small lunch) before Jesus, and Jesus feeds thousands with it. It would have been easy for the boy to keep back what was his because he didn’t think it would make a difference, but in God’s hands, it made all the difference.
Will you give what you have to the Lord?
3.) What Are the Steps God Has Put in Front of Me?
If we’re being honest, most of us want to know the entire plan all at the beginning. God doesn’t seem to usually do things that way. He often gives us what to do right now, expecting us to have enough faith to move without being able to see the entire journey. Waiting to take step number one because you don’t know step number five, however, is just procrastination and distrust. New information and resources usually appear as we progress through the tasks laid before us.
This isn’t an excuse to put the cart before the horse and be irresponsible. This doesn’t mean we should run ahead with a bad plan and blame God for it. But when we search the scriptures, pray intentionally, and seek godly counsel about the vision we feel on our hearts, we can have a good idea if it is time to progress or not. Do your homework, have a realistic idea of what beating this obstacle is going to take, and if the Lord has made clear through prayer, His Word, and good counsel that it’s time to move forward, don’t hesitate.
How can you begin to act right now?
The path forward isn’t always a straight line, but if you ask what you have, how you can lay it down before God, and take the steps that are in front of you, the impossible can be overcome.
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
- Galatians 6:9
(This article is based off of a longer message. Click here to listen.)
