HOW TO DEAL WITH IMPOSSIBILITY

Greetings fellow believers of the possibility. If you are like me...when you are faced with IMPOSSIBILITY...you scratch your head and wonder...HOW CAN THIS BE? Don't worry...you are in good company. Many moons ago...there was a young lady...who had the same question...HOW CAN THIS BE? She was presented with some news...good news...BUT...the POSSIBILITY of that good news...was overshadowed...by the IMPOSSIBILITY of the situation.

Our first picture is one that my son Phillip drew on the computer. It is a picture of the title of a book that he read called...THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE. I always liked this picture because it speaks to me about the nature of POSSIBILITIES. Things may look like solid concrete...no chance of anything growing...but in the middle of the city of IMPOSSIBILITIES...in the smallest crack...a ROSE can grow. So it is with our lives...where we are face with IMPOSSIBILITIES...with concrete in our lives...all things are impossible...but with GOD...all things are possible.


The cover of The Saturday Evening Post by Norman Rockwell is one of my favorites because...this side profile of this kid...with a dream of possibilities...looks amazingly like I looked (in my face...and my body). This kid had a dream...and he was putting into action his dream...by working out. We have to have a vision...a dream...a word...a goal...but if we don't put things into action...that is all we will have...visions, dreams, a word, a goal.

That young girl that we were talking about was named Mary. Her husband to be was Joseph...and she had a visit from God via an angel named Gabriel. I believe that there is a valuable lesson for us to learn...as we read the Word of God...His Holy Spirit speaks to us...and we are faced with the IMPOSSIBILITY of our own strengths and abilities to bring the Word about in our lives. We experience the same things that Mary experienced. Let us see how she handled the situation...and see if it can apply to our lives.


STEP #1 God sends a Word: Luke 1:26-27 God sent Gabriel...an angel...to a young girl...who never had been married...but was engaged...who WAS A VIRGIN. This represents the IMPOSSIBILITY

STEP #2 Luke 1:28 Gabriel approaches the girl with a spiritual fact..."And he came to her and said, Hail, O favored one (endued with grace), the Lord is with you! Blessed--favored of God--are you before all other women." Grace means unmerited favor, free gift, the divine influence in the heart, manifested in the life of the believer.

STEP #3 Luke 1:29 The initial response to this visitation of God via Gabriel was FEAR. "But when she saw him, she was GREATLY TROUBLED and DISTURBED and CONFUSED at what he said, and kept REVOLVING IN HER MIND what such a greeting might mean." She was trying to wrap her mind around the greeting. She had not even received the word yet.


STEP #4 Luke 1:30 Gabriel recognized her problem and spoke a word to her...before he could speak a Word to her. Sometimes we cannot hear God speak...because of fear. "And the angel said to her...DO NOT BE AFRAID, Mary, for you have found GRACE--free, spontaneous, absolute favor and loving kindness--with God.

STEP #5 Luke 1:31-33 Now she was ready to LISTEN! Gabriel laid out the IMPOSSIBILITY THAT WAS POSSIBLE. (a) You will become pregnant (b) You will give birth to a Son (c) You shall call His name Jesus (d) He will be great (eminent) (e) He will be called the Son of the Most High (aka God) (f) God will give to Him the throne of His forefather David (g) He will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages (h) There will be no end to His reign (Isaiah 9:6,7 Daniel 2:44)

STEP #6 Luke 1:34 Mary now showed no fear...but did approach what the angel had told here with her mind...with logic. NOTE: God is not afraid of our honest questions and doubts. "And Mary said to the angel...HOW CAN THIS BE...since I HAVE NO INTIMACY WITH ANY MAN AS A HUSBAND.

STEP #7 Luke 1:35 Gabriel answers her question with the HOW of the POSSIBILITY. " Then the angel said to her...the HOLY SPIRIT WILL COME UPON YOU...and OVERSHADOW YOU (as a shining cloud); and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing WHICH SHALL BE BORN OF YOU...will be called THE SON OF GOD."

STEP #8 Luke 1:36 The angel...told her the 2nd time to LISTEN. "And listen! Your relative Elizabeth in HER OLD AGE (impossibility) HAS ALSO CONCEIVED a son...and this is not the sixth month with her who WAS CALLED BARREN (impossibility). NOTE: The angel speaks of a natural birth that included a human father...but was still supernatural in nature...still an impossibility...that became possible.

STEP #9 Luke 1:37 This is the KEY to every situation that looks IMPOSSIBLE. FOR WITH GOD...NOTHING...NO THING...ZILCH... NADA...ZIP...NO THANG...and NO WORD FROM GOD SHALL BE WITHOUT POWER OR IMPOSSIBLE OF FULFILLMENT."

STEP #10 Luke 1:38 Mary has gone from being greatly troubled...disturbed and confused with a revolving mind...to questioning how THIS CAN BE....to realizing the impossibility can be possible. Mary now steps up to the plate...and DECLARES...."Then Mary said, Behold, I am the HANDMAIDEN/SERVANT of the Lord...LET IT BE DONE TO ME ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU HAVE SAID...ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD."

At this point the angel left her...and because of her saying YES LORD...the POSSIBILITY BEGAN TO UNFOLD.


FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY!

The picture of the man...kneeling with outstretched arms...and eyes to the sky is of Elijah. In the book of James...verses 17-18 we see that Elijah was a human being...with a nature like you and me. He had feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours. He PRAYED in the face of impossibilities. (See I Kings 17:1 and I Kings 18:42-45 for full details). His impossibility was praying for rain to start up again after a three years six month dry spell (that he had prayed). The word says in James 5:18...that he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops. When you read the I Kings passage...you see that it was not an IMMEDIATE result of prayer. It took effectual, earnest, heartfelt, CONTINUED prayer that manifested TREMENDOUS POWER...DYNAMIC IN IT'S WORKING... before the IMPOSSIBILITY was dispelled by POSSIBILITY. He prayed and sent his servant 7 times to look for some sign of the POSSIBILITY...but each time the servant came back with a report of the IMPOSSIBILITY. This speaks of getting a word from God...and hanging on to that word...until you see something happens. The final result was...the servant came back with a word of a CLOUD the size of a fist...and that was enough for Elijah.

I pray that the RAIN OF POSSIBILITY will flood your lives with grace, favor, mercy and loving kindness...will and give you relief from the IMPOSSIBILITY.

In the word of God to Roger Kaputnik..."take these two tablets and call me in the morning."



Love and Kisses of Possibility in the face of Impossibility
Rodney "Be It Done To Me According To Your Word" Boyd