
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 (NIV)
Reflection
It was a beautiful, hot summer day; yet, I was full of despair and anxiety. While taking a walk with my Dad, I was explaining to him my dilemma. Finally, my dream of attending the university was coming true, but there was no money. Nada. Dad asked me if I was sure that God wanted me to get a college degree. “Of course,” I replied. “Then,” he said, “Believe God. He will provide.”
Indeed two weeks before starting to attend classes, a church decided to fully support the pursuit of my dream; paying my tuition, fees, and books for four years. In addition, I received a monthly stipend.
Despair and anxiety were my emotions. What are yours? As we wrap up the first semester of the school year, do you look forward to what is ahead or are you grateful for what shall soon come to an end? Maybe your first teaching position was more than expected. Maybe the grant was denied. Maybe your advisers have gently suggested that your dissertation proposal be revisited? Or, maybe the quest for post-doc work was more uneventful than anticipated. But, is there anything too hard for God? With God, all things are possible. We need to be willing to not put God in a box and choose to discern, as well as act, on what we perceive as the impossible. In what areas have you boxed God? In other words, what areas have you assumed were too big or too miniscule for God? Was it financing for your education? Was it your choice of school? Was it your career path? Our hope becomes an act of worship and our worship needs to be full of praise and thanksgiving for the mighty daily provision our God gives.
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19:17)
Whether it is a walk, a hot sunny day, or fully paid tuition, our hope lies in His ability to give graciously what we need, without strings attached. There is only one who is good. Praise be to God, the Lord and Father of all good gifts. Indeed God is good!
Questions
What right now is challenging your ability to believe that God can do the impossible?
Ask God to open your eyes to His gigantic goodness and thank Him in advance for the promise of what He will do.
Prayer
Lord, we know that You are able to do far beyond all that we ask or think. We ask that we would learn to expect the unexpected from You, that we would be overflowing with hope and joy as we wait to see what You will do on our behalf. We ask that our joy would abound more and more as we see You do what we could not have expected or imagined. Thank You for Your abundant generosity, and Your goodness beyond what we can describe. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
Image: JESUS MAFA. Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48287 [retrieved November 25, 2014]. More information about the JESUS MAFA collaborative art project is also available at this site.
Leave a Reply