Is He Asking the Impossible?

Are you kidding me? It was impossible. Looking at the workout of the day, I just knew I couldn’t do it. This recovering couch potato hadn’t done a 5K in over 30 years. The workout was a 10K and my knee can’t handle running which meant I would be marking the meters on a rowing machine.

And the furthest I had done to date on those calorie-eating devices was a 2K. I figured the class was only an hour long, so I went to the gym thinking that at least I could burn some calories. My coach had other ideas. I walked in, he looked me squarely in the eyes and informed me I would be doing a 10K that day. I was sure I would prove him wrong.

How often do we have an assignment from God that looks impossible? We look at the enormity of it compared to our abilities and think, “No way!” Yet God sees past our limitations and knows what He can do through us if we just show up. Jesus promises us this in Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” We need to focus not on our limitations, but on God’s abilities. Nothing is impossible for Him and He desires to work through us to accomplish His purposes.

We can stand firmly on the promise from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We can accomplish what God has called us to do when we lean on Him for strength, wisdom and creativity in carrying out our mission. If God has called you to do something for Him, He will equip you to accomplish it.

The reality of following through on your assignment is that it won’t be easy. God rarely calls us to do easy things. His desire is to see us grow and mature on our spiritual journey. That doesn’t happen if we are not challenged. The challenge requires us to rely on Him and not our own strength to finish the assignment.

Often God will only show us the next step and not reveal the whole plan on how He will accomplish His purposes. That is probably a good thing. If we saw the whole plan laid out, we might run in fear at the enormity of it. Yet, God is faithful. If we rely on Him, He is faithful to complete what He has started. We must stay in obedience to Him and do the next step as He reveals it. Before long, we will be able to look back and stand in amazement at what God has done.

It took over an hour that day at the gym where I focused on the next 100 meters, then 1,000 until I accomplished what my coach knew I could do. I finished the 10K. Just like my workout, in assignments from God we need to focus on the next step. Our Heavenly Father is all knowing, and He would not give us an assignment we could not complete with His direction and strength. Trust Him and be obedient to what He is calling you to do. You will be amazed at how far you go.