If you have heard someone, say, “Nothing is impossible with God.” Where did your mind immediately go? Personally, mine goes to miracles and from what I hear in all too many modern worship songs and read online, I'm not alone. Often, I think miracles are exactly what people have in mind when they make the statement that nothing is impossible for God, they’re trying to encourage someone by essentially saying, “Don’t give up hope, God can do miracles.” I know that people mean well when they say this but something about it seems a bit off to me. Now, I will add the disclaimer that I do fully believe in God’s power and ability to do the miraculous, we see it throughout much of the Scriptures and I do believe that He still does them today but only as He wills. There is far too much pressure and teaching that experiencing miracles is somehow based on “us,” our “authority,” or our quantity of faith (the name it and claim it teaching comes to mind).
I think the reason our minds go from, God can do all things, to, I'll take a miracle please, is because a miracle would be the quick fix, the immediate relief to our pain or sorrow, a miracle is the thing our flesh craves. To be honest, we want that for others too, don't we? None of us want to see a loved one living as a slave to sin or suffering greatly from pain or sickness in this sin cursed world, we see a problem and think that a miracle is the best solution, but have we not heard, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways." This is Yahweh's declaration. (Isaiah 55:8) For an emphasis on how drastically different His ways are from ours go and read verse 9 as well.
What I want us to do is this: Let's considered the statement, “Nothing is impossible with God” in a different light. Situation 1: A woman's husband is living in sin. Miracle Focused Mentality: “Nothing is impossible with God, so I’m going to keep praying that He instantly changes my sin enslaved husband into a repentant, holy man of God, wonderful husband and father, and that He does it as soon as possible.” Scripture Focused Prayer: “Father, I know that nothing is impossible with You, so I am going to choose to be long-suffering in loving and respecting my husband, not on the basis of him having earned it, but because of my love and respect for You, my Lord and Savior, who has called me to this. I can obey and take hope in knowing that what You inspired to be written in 1 Peter 3:1-2 is just as true for me today as it was for the wives then.” Situation 2: Cancer Miracle Focused Mentality: “If I can just make myself have enough faith, my cancer will be cured and then I can give God the glory.” Eternity Focused Prayer: “Lord, I know that all things are possible for You. You know my desire to be healed but please help my heart and soul to pray in truth, Lord, not my will but Yours be done. Whatever Your will through this sickness, I pray that I will glorify You in all things. I pray for Your supernatural comfort, peace, and joy not simply for myself but so that I can be a light to others in this dark valley. Help me to testify of the goodness of Your gospel to others who are broken and hurting in this world. In healing or in sickness, Lord, my life is an offering to You, and I take comfort in knowing that while to live is Christ, to die is gain.”
Reference Isaiah 55:8 again. God's ways are not the same as our ways. It would not have been "our way" to permit Job's suffering, nor would we have had the foreknowledge to know that Job would stand the test of Satan's temptations and not curse God. It would not have been "our way" for God Himself to take on flesh, coming to save us in all the vulnerability of a helpless baby that would actually have to live and grow among us. It would not have been "our way" for Him to wait to start His preaching and teaching ministry until He was around 30 years old and then to only preach for about 3 years before being the only possible sacrifice that could atone for the sins of humanity. There are so many examples from the Scriptures that should humble us into surrendering to the truth that His ways are not like our ways; they are infinitely better. I don't deny for a moment that they often do not "make sense" from our very limited perspective and from the incredibly blurred view of our current circumstances. How often we cannot even see the here and now clearly, how much less can we fathom God's plan that encompasses human souls in light of all eternity. We do not have to understand His plan to trust Him. We don't have to understand how He is going to work everything out for His glory and for the good of those He has called, to have the confidence that His word is true.
You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you. (Isaiah 26:3 CSB) A true miracle is an amazing thing, but we should not be focused on them. What a difference I think we would see in the family of Christ if instead of people pointing their suffering brother or sister in Christ to the maybe of miracles, they pointed them instead to the sure promises of God that He has given us in His word. Let's look at a few of God's promises from His word: Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayers and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 CSB We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28 CSB Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 CSB And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. - Matthew 19:29 CSB Miracles are uncertain, God's promises are sure. Please do consider though that some skilled deceivers will twist God's word and try to apply verses to people that do not pertain to them. A popular partial verse intentionally taken out of context is this: God is within her, she will not fall; - Psalm 46:5a NIV Now, as a woman I understand the appeal, that sounds really good at first glance. But does this verse actually apply to me (or to you)? Let's look at its context. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. - Psalm 46:5 NIV
The "her" that verse 5 is referencing is "the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." "She" is the city of Jerusalem. She is not me and she is not you. This is just one small example of how a verse can be taken out of context and misrepresented to people. A great way to discover God's promises is to read His word faithfully and frequently. You can find some of His promises by doing a search for them online but much like Psalm 46:5a mentioned above, some of what you will find will be taken out of context and not actually be a promise to you at all so please use discernment and read the verses in context to see who God was speaking to. To summarize, miracles are good and amazing, but they are not guaranteed, they are not the gospel. We should cling to His promises and diligently point others to them as well. For a few more good verses about God's promises read Joshua 23:14, 2 Corinthians 1:20, and 2 Corinthians 7:1.
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