Work Like All Things Are Possible

"Nothing is impossible with God," says the angel Gabriel to Mary, the young woman whom God had chosen to bear his Son (Luke 1:37). Mary needed encouragement. The angel had just told her that:

1. she was going to be the mother of the Son of the Most High God, the Redeemer of the people Israel, the Messiah whom they had been anticipating for centuries, and
2. that she was going to become pregnant without ever having sex.

Mary must have been thinking, "Yeah, right, and how will that happen? Impossible."

But the Angel anticipated her doubt with a promise, "Nothing is impossible with God." By God's grace, Mary chose not to doubt and moved into a totally unexpected, unanticipated, and amazing journey.

She wasn't the first woman in the Bible to have a miracle child, though other miracle babies had human fathers. God created life from barrenness in biblical mothers such as Hannah, the mother of Samuel, and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Throughout Scripture, God proves to be far more creative than our imaginations, and he is in the business of creating something out of nothing. Including the world. When it seems impossible, get ready for God to work.

Sometimes in our lives, we are confronted with a blocked path, a resounding "No," an impossible relationship that we cannot do anything to fix. We are tempted to get frustrated, desperate, angry, and sad. But just like barren women, we can turn to the One who creates life itself. As we follow him, our feelings of frustration and anger are replaced by hope and anticipation to see what God will do.

If we look around, we can see the evidence of God's presence—in the brilliant colors of the azaleas, in the face of a newborn baby, in the miracle of a restored relationship, or the call of a friend. We have a God who loves us. He has a plan for us and will never abandon us.

When Mary heard the angel, she did not know how such promises would work. But she didn't need to know. She only needed to trust. That doesn't mean it was easy. She could have lost Joseph. She was almost definitely ostracized from her peers for a time. But she trusted God, and she remained faithful in her daily life.

We, too, can trust that we belong to God. We, too, can hope that he will never let go of us. Any blocked path, any loud "No," any impossibility isn't the end of the story. These are signs for us to keep working and believing that God is leading us in a new direction. Somewhere amazing and unanticipated.