What’s Impossible?

Have you ever said, “That’s not my forte!  I’m just not good at that.”  or “That’s way out of my comfort zone!”  Maybe a situation you’re facing looks like an impossible situation. You’ve come to a dead end; there’s simply no way out. I know I’ve felt that way a few times. Sometimes those situations are a result of a poor choice that I’ve made and I think, “You deserve the consequences you’re facing!” In other situations, however, life simply creeps in until I’m facing a wall that seems impassable. In either situation, I can either resign myself to the consequences or I can take my impossible situation to God. He delights in impossible situations. I know He will either give me the strength to walk through the difficulty or He will deliver me from it. Either way, it’s a whole lot easier to face when I face it with His strength rather than my own.

Recently I thought I had lost something that didn’t belong to me. I was frustrated with myself and had decided that I would just have to ‘fess up, offer to pay my friend and do the best I could to make it right.  After all it was my fault and that’s what I deserved for being so careless. However, I decided almost as a last resort, that I would pray about it. When I did, a miraculous thing happened! Immediately after praying, I had a picture come to mind of where it was. Sure enough when I checked it out, I found the lost item. Had I tried to solve the problem in my own strength, it would have been difficult and somewhat painful.  When I looked to God for strength and help with my problem, the process was one of joy instead of pain. I hope I learned from this experience that I can look to God for everything and I can believe for those things that seem impossible. I hope I remember next time to pray first instead of last. I have a hunch though, that I will need to be reminded. Thankfully God is gracious. He hasn’t given up on me yet.

I feel like kids are much better at believing for the impossible than adults. By the time we are adults, we have lived through some disappointments, heard others question and probably had a couple of our dreams dashed by reality, until it become easier to question than to hope and believe in the impossible. Kids live in the realm of pretend and fantasy. They often believe that anything is impossible. They believe that they can grow up and be superheroes or royalty. Their dreams are enormous encompassing everything from climbing a tree in the back yard to flying through the sky. Kids are excited about learning even it means they might fall down a few times. Did you ever see a baby quit pulling themselves up because they fell down? No, they might be a little hesitant and need some coaxing, but they get up again over and over until they finally are able to walk. Maybe that’s why Jesus said to come to Him as a child. A child simply believes. They trust. They trust that their parent or loving grandparent, auntie or whoever will be there to help them back up again and catch them if they start to fall.

So what is impossible? What are your impossibilities? Is it debt? Hoping to further your education yet can’t see how? Breaking free of an addiction? Cancer? Whatever your impossibility is; are you ready to give it to God? Recently, I’ve been challenged by my own impossibilities. I’ve found myself saying things like, “I’ve been praying for my friend who is sick and yet haven’t seen any answers yet.” or “I know that God can change this situation, but why should He do it for me?” Instead of looking at the impossibilities, what if we started looking at what God is doing and can do. Then let’s share that hope with others.

God can and will do amazing things when we give Him everything. Nothing is impossible! Let’s bravely face our impossibilities with God’s amazing grace, share that same grace with others and tell the good news, “Nothing is impossible, absolutely nothing, when God is in control!”

PARENT OR GRANDPARENT PRAYER:
God,
So often I find myself trying to solve impossible situations on my own. I struggle and strain getting nowhere, but when I hand the situation over to you, you give me strength. Your power turns the impossible into amazing. Thank you for your help and strength. Teach me to say yes to your nudges too. I can find so many reasons not to step out of my comfort zone and yet when I say yes to you, yes to that nudge, then I find that your strength and power work through me and you are honored. Amazing things happen when I dare to trust you. Forgive me when shrink back from saying yes. Give me the courage to step up and share Jesus everywhere I go just like Paul did. I want to share the good news of hope and encourage others to trust you with their impossible situations too. Amen 

BEYOND GIVING & SHARING

This month my blogs have all contained at least some reference to giving and sharing and that is a good place to start when helping others, but what else can we do. How can we begin to change the negative climate that so often seems to be prevalent in our world? Of course, we can give our time and our listening ears. We can share our talents and honor others by extending common courtesy; using words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when interacting with others, but is there anything beyond that? Can we really hope to make a difference. Yes we can – one life, one interaction at a time. Yes, we can give hope, we can give life and we can give Jesus.

• How? By what we say and do. Ask yourself the following questions: (Hey,
  I’m not picking on you. I’m asking myself the same things.)

• Are the words we speak life-giving or do those words steal life from others? Are we focusing on solutions or are we focusing on the problems?

• Does our personal life exhibit trust in God or are we stuck in a negative mind set?
  
• Are we dream encouragers or dream stealers?
  
• How do we encourage? By what we say and do. Are we showing others that we believe they can go for their God-given dreams or telling them why they can’t?
  
• Actions – Are we complaining or rolling up our sleeves to do something?
  
• Are we taking our problems to God in prayer or blaming someone or something?
  
• What do all these questions mean? Only that we can go beyond giving and sharing when we dare to believe that God is the God of the impossible and dare to encourage others to believe also.
  
• Let’s get rid of the negative and hang onto hope. Let’s change our world by sharing Jesus!

Parents & Kids Section

SHARE A STORY: Paul Tells About Jesus – Acts 13:2-3, 17:24-32, 18:9-11, 23
God had a very special job for Paul to do. He wanted Paul to tell people about Jesus everywhere he went. (Say, “Jesus loves you!”) Paul did! He traveled to lots of different places telling about Jesus. Paul said, “Jesus is God’s Son and He is alive! God raised Him from the dead.” Paul told how God made the whole world and everything in it. He said, “God is the one who gives us life and gives us everything we need. He gives us enough to share.”

Did you know that God made you? He did and He loves you too. Give yourself a BIG hug!

Paul also said, “God wants everyone to know about Him. God isn’t a statue made out of silver or gold. God is far greater and bigger than any statue. He made everyone and everything.”

Some of the people believed what Paul was saying and trusted in Jesus, but not everyone did. Some people didn’t like what Paul was saying. (Shake head.) Still Paul kept telling the good news wherever he went. (Say, “Jesus loves you!”) He shared his friend, Jesus, everywhere.

You can tell others about Jesus too, (Say, “Jesus loves you!”) just like Paul did and you can grow up strong, (Show muscles.) ready to do whatever God wants you to do. When you have a job to do, God will help you, just like he helped Paul. Let’s use our ‘God muscles’ and tell our friends about our friend, Jesus. He will help you! Be ready to give and share Jesus everywhere. Be ready to do the impossible because when God gives you impossible dreams, He will help you.

PRAYER:
Dear Jesus,
I’m so glad that you are my friend. I can talk to you about everything and I know that you will help me. You help me give and share and learn new things everyday. I want to tell my friends about you. I want to share your love, Jesus. I want to share that you can do anything. Amen

KNOW: God helps me tell about Jesus.
TALK ABOUT: Jesus and share some good news.
ASK: Who will help you? God will help you.

MEMORIZE: 1 Tim. 6:18 ERV – (Hold hands like holding a book.)
Be happy, – (Smile)
To give – (Hands out)
And ready – (Wave like a music director.)
To share – (Pretend to give something to someone.)

AND DO: Tell a friend about Jesus.

FUN IDEAS FOR THIS WEEK

• Call a friend or family member to share some good news. Don’t forget to tell your friend, “Jesus loves you!”
  
• Work together when you have a hard job to do or when learning something new. When we work together, sharing and helping each other, the job is easier.