Impossible?

Mary woke up early, reflecting on her memory of the angel coming to her the day before to announce she would bear the child named Jesus. So what was she to do now? Her family, unbelieving, would reject her, and so would Joseph. But she had heard the angel say "nothing is impossible for God" and she had responded with "Here
I am, the servant of the Lord, obedient to everything you have said." So, she determined once again, as she would have to decide many more times in the coming years, that she would continue to be obedient to God's call, even though her path looked impossibly difficult.

Joseph, a few months later, had a similar visit from the same angel. He too had to decide to be obedient to God's direction for his life and the life of Mary's unborn child, who was already the source of scandal in their small village. But Joseph was a man who had been raised on the history of his people, and he knew the call of God was not something to be ignored. So he finished his preparations, took Mary into his house as his wife, and their life together began -- a life that would lead them both to decide over and over to be obedient to God's will, even though the path set out for them looked impossible.

In reality, God does his best work in what looks impossible for us. All through the Bible, God demonstrates his authority by doing what we cannot comprehend. From creation itself to a multitude of miraculous births in the history of Israel, right up to the story of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, and hundreds more miracles of all kinds, God shows up when the situation looks impossible and creates new beginnings. Salvation itself is a miracle -- a feat we cannot pull off by human effort. Jesus underscores that principle in Luke 18:27, with nearly the same words as in his mother's story: "what is impossible for people is possible for God."

There's something you are facing right now that is impossible for you. (I know that because I am facing several of them myself!)  It may be a new critical health problem, or it may be a hope that has died in you after years of prayer and fasting with no answer. It may look like something you know would be a blessing for you and others, but that is totally out of reach. We are tempted as humans to attempt control, but of course, if something is impossible we can't control it!  So does it make sense to spend our energies trying to make things work out the way we want? Wouldn't it be better to let go, and let God do what he wants and will do anyway? I know that's not as simple as it sounds, especially if what you're facing is life-threatening or heartbreaking. But during this Advent season, the God of the Impossible reminds us that he is really the "God of All Possibility." We can rest in that just like the baby Jesus rested in his swaddling clothes, God impossibly clothed in human flesh, humbly in a manger.