You look at the path ahead, the journey that God has called you to, and you can barely comprehend the enormity of what you are facing. The obstacles are immense. The challenges, unimaginable. The destination, thoroughly unobtainable. You think, No way, God! I can’t do this. This path you have called me to? It is insane. It is impossible!
This is not the path you wanted. Well, not exactly. You love God, of course. With all your heart you love God, and throughout the years that you have walked with Him, you have been blessed in so many ways. Back in the day, you even had the great privilege of witnessing the amazing miracles that only He could do. Oh, the stories you could tell of His faithfulness and power and goodness!
But this? This isn’t exactly what you signed up for. You thought by now, now that you are this far down the path, that the journey would be getting easier, not harder! And certainly not impossible! You start to doubt, thinking, maybe you misunderstood what He is asking you to do. Perhaps you took a wrong turn somewhere along the journey, and if you could just find your way back to the right path, the one He must have intended for you to take, then everything will work out. Then you can breathe easy again.
But no. There is no other path. There is no way around it. This is the place He has led you to. This is the journey forward He is asking you to take. This is the impossible He is calling you to.
You say in your heart, This is impossible! How can I do this? And He says to your heart, Remember! You cannot go back, but you can look back. Look what He has already done, not only for you, but for countless believers before you! Remember? Remember the times before when you were in distress, when you cried out to Him? He heard you. Remember when you were bound with chains, utterly helpless, stuck in desperation and unrelenting pain? When there was absolutely no way out? With a mighty hand, He brought you out and He rescued you.
Remember that season of isolation and obscurity, when you did not know where you were going, when you had no direction and nothing seemed to be happening? That season when it seemed like God was silent and no matter how hard you tried to find meaning, it just seemed as if this long journey was completely futile and pointless? The whole way, every step of that time in that wilderness, the Lord your God was leading you.
Remember when you were hungry? He fed you. Through His loving providence and infinite provision, not once have you lacked what you needed. Not once did He fail to sustain you. Sometimes He did this in miraculous ways, sometimes in mundane and ordinary ways, but always, always, He satisfied and provided for your every need. Not once did He forget to take care of you.
During that endless wandering, that season of seeming insignificance, God was doing some of His greatest work in you! When you look back and remember, you can see how He humbled you and tested you. Why? Because He is mean? Because He was unaware of what you needed? No! It was not to harm you, but to do you good. To make you fully aware at every moment that it wasn’t about your own power and might and hard work. He wanted you to learn, in a very personal way, that He, not you or your abilities or your competence or your resourcefulness, but that He alone is all You need. He wanted you to understand that His promises are not just ancient words written long ago, but that His promises are real and personal. They were written for you, to encourage you. They are the very words that will bring you life and hope. Oh, how your faith has been strengthened and renewed as you have seen first-hand how He has faithfully fulfilled every one of His promises!
Looking back, remembering what God has done, will help you believe once more. You can believe that the same God who broke chains, who delivered you, who sustained you and provided for you, the same God who did the miraculous in the past, is the same God who can do it again.
And when you look at the impossible before you, and when you ask, How can I do this? He declares over you,You shall not be afraid! There is no reason to fear the impossible, because the Lord your God is with you. Not once has He left you or abandoned you or forgotten you, and He is not going to leave you or abandon you or forget you now. And this God? He is a great and awesome God! He is infinitely stronger and more powerful than all the impossible things you are afraid of. He promises that nothing, absolutely nothing, will be able to stand against you until you have accomplished what He has called you to do.
When God calls you to the impossible, He is not asking you to be strong enough and brave enough or have enough confidence. To believe in yourself. He promises that He will clear away the obstacles before you. Those impossible challenges that are more numerous and mighty than you? He will go before you. Just breathe in the most beautiful words you may ever hear: He will fight for you. And that is how you will be victorious. That is how you will defeat the impossible.
Why? When you stand here in fear, facing a terrifying unknown, when your faith is shaking and you can’t find a single ounce of courage, why would He fight for you? Why wouldn’t He choose someone else, someone who is braver or stronger or has more confidence. Why would He call you? Because you are holy to the Lord. Out of all the people who are on the face of the earth, He has chosen you for His treasured possession. He has set His love on you and has chosen you. It was not because you are more deserving than any other people. In fact, you are right - you are the least of all people. Quite simply, He chose you because He loves you.
Believe. Believe that He is the Lord your God, the faithful God who keeps every one of His promises. He keeps His steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, not just to you but to your children and to a thousand generations after you. He sees your doubts and fears and insecurities. But more importantly, He sees your faith. Wavering faith, maybe. Weak, hanging on by a thread faith, at times. But ultimately a steadfast faith. And because of your steadfast faith, He promises to love you, and to bless you, and to multiply you. He promises to bless your children and your work in all that He promised to give you. He promises to heal you of all your brokenness and pain.
Move forward, not in fear, but in confidence. Confidence that He has led you on this journey, to this very path at this very time. Move forward into the promises that He has made to you. He rescued you from the darkness, He led you through the wilderness, and He is fully able to lead you into a good place, a land of refreshment and abundance. A place in which you will lack nothing. On the other side of the impossible, when you have finally received all He has promised to give you, how your heart will be full, overflowing with gratitude to the Lord your God for leading you there.
What do you do when God calls you to the impossible? Don’t deny it. It’s true. It is impossible! The obstacles are indeed too big, too overwhelming, too much for you to face. However, the Lord does not want you to look at the impossible. He wants you to look at Him! Look at how He has sustained you and provided for you in the past. Surely, He will do it again.
Now is not the time to quit. Now is the time to believe! Believe, not in your own ability to do the impossible, but in His ability to do the impossible. As you go down this path, know that He has already promised that you will be victorious. Before you lift your sword, know that the great and awesome God is in your midst, right here with you, fighting for you.
Before you take the first step to face the impossible - the difficult situations and overwhelming challenges and terrifying unknowns – before you go there, know this. Remember this. Believe this. The impossible has already been defeated.
Adapted from Deuteronomy 7 and 8
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