OCTOBER’S THEME — “SEEING HOLINESS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”
BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART
QUIT TALKING YOURSELF OUT OF WHAT GOD CAN DO
“Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” — Genesis 18:14
Sometimes our greatest discourager lives between our own ears. We pray and ask God to do something, but before we have even finished waiting for the answer, we begin explaining to ourselves why it probably will not happen. We tell ourselves, “It’s too late. They’ll never change. The situation is impossible. I’ve tried before. Nothing has worked. I don’t see any way this can turn around.” Think about the contradiction. We bring an impossible situation to an unlimited God, and then immediately begin evaluating what He can do according to our limited resources. We ask God to work, but then we look at our age, our health, our finances, another person’s attitude, our past failures, or the circumstances surrounding us and conclude that there is no way. There may be no way you can see. There may be no way you can accomplish it. There may be no human explanation for how it could happen. But none of those statements means that God is unable. The question God asked Abraham still confronts our unbelief today: “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?”
STOP MEASURING GOD BY YOUR ABILITY
When God asked Abraham, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” He was directing Abraham’s attention away from human impossibility and toward divine ability. Abraham and Sarah were looking at their age. God was looking at His promise. They were looking at what the human body could no longer do. God was reminding them of what He could do. We make the same mistake. We look at ourselves and say, “I can’t do this.” Sometimes that assessment is completely accurate. You cannot change another person’s heart. You cannot guarantee that a relationship will be restored. You cannot heal your own body. You cannot control tomorrow. You cannot manufacture a miracle. But faith does not require you to pretend you can do something you cannot do. Faith redirects the question. Instead of only asking, “What can I do?” faith asks, “What can God do?” Our limitations are real, but they are not God’s limitations. Our resources have boundaries; His power does not. We see the obstacles; God sees the entire picture. We see what has happened before; God knows what He intends to do next. Sometimes the most spiritual words you can say are, “Lord, I cannot do this.” But never put a period there. Finish the sentence: “Lord, I cannot—but You can.”
IMPOSSIBILITY IS WHERE DEPENDENCE BEGINS
Some situations really are impossible for us. That is not pessimism; it is reality. There are circumstances where no amount of determination, intelligence, money, influence, or effort can produce the result we desire. But reaching the end of ourselves does not mean we have reached the end of God. Sometimes God allows us to come to a place where our resources are insufficient because we have been depending upon our resources more than we realized. As long as we believe we can manage everything ourselves, we may acknowledge God while still depending primarily upon ourselves. But impossibility strips away that illusion. Jesus said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” — John 15:5. Those words are not intended to discourage us. They are an invitation to dependence. Jesus is reminding us that the Christian life was never designed to be lived by our strength with occasional assistance from God. We are to live continually dependent upon Him. Your weakness can therefore become a doorway to deeper dependence. The situation that makes you say, “I cannot” may become the very situation through which you discover, “Christ is sufficient.” God may change the situation. God may change another person. God may open a door you cannot open. But sometimes, before He changes anything around you, He begins changing something within you. He teaches you to pray differently, trust more deeply, surrender more completely, and discover His sufficiency in ways you never would have learned while everything was easy. Impossibility can become holy ground when it drives us away from self-sufficiency and into dependence upon God.
DON’T CONFUSE FAITH WITH DEMANDING AN OUTCOME
There is an important difference between believing God can do something and demanding that God must do it exactly the way we want. Faith does not say, “If I believe strongly enough, God has to give me my desired outcome.” That turns faith into an attempt to control God. Biblical faith bows before His wisdom while trusting His power. Faith says, “God can. God knows. God is faithful. And I trust Him with the outcome.”That means I can pray boldly while remaining surrendered. I can ask God to heal while trusting Him if the journey is longer than I desire. I can pray for restoration while allowing God to work in ways I cannot see. I can ask Him to open a door while trusting Him if He keeps it closed. I can bring Him my impossible situation without telling Him exactly how He must solve it. This is where faith becomes deeper than merely believing for a miracle. Faith says, “Lord, I know what I want You to do, and I believe You are able to do it. But more than I trust my desired outcome, I trust You.” Real faith does not have to know what God is going to do next. It only has to know who God is.
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days. Mary and Martha were grieving. Their brother was gone. The tomb was sealed. From every human perspective, the situation was finished. Mary and Martha saw a tomb. The people standing nearby saw death. The stone seemed to say, “Too late.” But Jesus saw an opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed. Then Jesus did something remarkable. He told the people, “Take ye away the stone.” — John 11:39. They could move the stone, but they could not raise Lazarus. That distinction matters. God did not ask them to do what only God could do. He asked them to obey Him in what they could do, and then He did what only He could do. The people moved the stone. Jesus stood before the tomb and cried, “Lazarus, come forth.” — John 11:43. And the man who had been dead walked out. Sometimes we stand in front of our impossible situation staring at the stone and telling God why nothing can happen. We see the diagnosis, the broken relationship, the wayward child, the closed door, the years that have passed, or the prayer that remains unanswered. God may simply be saying, “Do the next thing I have told you to do—and leave the resurrection to Me.” You move the stone. Only God raises the dead.
What impossible situation have you been talking yourself out of praying about? Maybe you have prayed so long that you have begun protecting yourself from disappointment by expecting nothing. You still pray the words, but somewhere inside you have already decided, “This will never change.” Bring it back to God. Do not pretend the problem is small. Do not deny reality. Do not manufacture an outcome. And do not tell God how He must answer. Simply bring Him your impossible. Then stop taking it back every few hours so you can explain to yourself why He cannot handle what you just placed into His hands. Your impossibility has never intimidated God. Do what God has told you to do. Trust Him to do what you cannot do. Leave the outcome in His hands. The question is not whether the situation is too hard for you. It may be. The question is, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” And when your mind answers, “But I can’t,” let faith finish the sentence: “I cannot—but God can.”
WARFARE PRAYER
Almighty God, forgive me for measuring Your power by my limitations. Forgive me for asking You to work and then spending my time explaining why You cannot. Guard my mind against unbelief disguised as realism, and keep past disappointments from becoming the measure of what I believe You can do today. Lord, I acknowledge that there are things before me that I cannot change. I cannot change another person’s heart. I cannot control tomorrow. I cannot manufacture a miracle. I cannot accomplish in my strength what requires Your power. So today I surrender my impossible situation to You. Show me the stone You want me to move—the act of obedience that belongs to me—and give me the courage to move it. Then keep me from trying to do what belongs only to You. I believe You can. I believe You know. I believe You are faithful. But I will not demand my preferred outcome. Whether You change the situation immediately, change it gradually, or first change me while I wait, I choose to trust You. Nothing is too hard for the LORD. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Name the one situation in your life that feels the most impossible. Then ask yourself, “What part of this belongs to me, and what part belongs to God?” Identify the next act of obedience God has placed before you and do it. Then deliberately surrender everything you cannot do into His hands. When your mind begins explaining all the reasons it cannot happen, stop and pray: “Lord, I cannot—but You can. I will do what You have asked me to do, and I will trust You with what only You can do.” Then leave it there. Move your stone—and let God be God.
THURSDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS
Britany Smith
Darlene Kelley
Darlene Thaxton
Ginny Ford
Kim’s McClain’s Mother & Sister
Paula Ferus – Hip Replacement
Rob Davis
Rose Fuller-Chronic Back Pain
Susan Bankston