Mothers Group Reflection #34: "If anything is possible, nothing is necessary"

I was sitting in my weekday moms group when I first heard this quote, “if anything is possible, nothing is necessary.” Shakespeare? One of the saints? The Bible? Where did it come from? I had come to this conclusion in my recent walk with God, but I had not come up with such a succinct way of phrasing this thought. It came from the show “Outlander,” and the actual quote was slightly different in wording, but the meaning was the same.

I have not watched this show, nor am I going to. It’s just not my thing. But the words are beautiful and the quote has much to ponder for our faith life. Truly, if God can do anything, if nothing is beyond His power and wisdom, no problem too big, nothing lost that cannot be restored, then there is nothing in this world we have to cling to, and suddenly, our faith is so startlingly simple and freeing. All the attachments we have to this or that just melt away from us, and there is nothing that we can’t hold with an open hand before the infinite God that loves us so dearly.

God is so huge, so beyond our comprehension, so full of wisdom, His ways unsearchable and so far beyond and above ours, why do we ever fight Him on anything? He tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

At God’s prompting, it is this very thought that compelled Abraham to offer his only son, the son born of God’s promise, back to Him, trusting that if it be in His will, God could raise up another son. He did not fail to trust God’s promise, even when it probably seemed absurd and impossible. Instead, he simply said, “God himself will provide” and acted in incredible faith (Genesis 22:1-19, Hebrews 11:17-19). Another example is Mary, who chose to give her “yes” to God’s plan to bring a savior into this world, regardless of the personal cost, and without seeing in advance how God would provide. She also chose to stand by at the cross, as sorrow pierced her own soul, too. (Luke 1:26-38, Luke 3:35, John 19:25). We can find a long testimony of the courage of many of the great figures of the Bible in Hebrews 11:1-12:12, people willing to live completely by faith when their eyes told them otherwise.

This same faith has compelled countless saints and people in the Bible to trust God no matter their circumstances, and to put all they had into His hands, knowing that if He saw fit to remove it, God would still be God. He would still provide and love us. The saints knew that only one thing in life is really necessary...Jesus.

I could give many, many examples of God’s provision within my own life in times when I stepped out in faith without seeing the end result, or gave something up, trusting He would give me something better in return, even though it didn’t come right away or even in the way I expected.

So, how do we grow this kind of faith? Where we know in our innermost hearts that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)? There are many ways to do this, beginning with picking up our Bible and finding some quiet time to learn His character on each page, and then moving into dialogue with Him through prayer, asking Him to remove any obstacles to that deep trust. More specifically, I invite you to consider keeping a journal to record your prayer requests, and taking the time to write down the many answers you receive, the joys, difficulties and praises for His provision. Over time, you will find Him in all the details of your life and realize He always was there and always will be. Because once we truly trust that His ways are not our ways, we can stop stressing and trying to figure out what only He can do with ease.

Questions for further reflection:

Do you truly believe that anything is possible for God or do you keep Him in a box of your own making? If not, what holds you back? What questions do you have about God’s character or ways that have become an obstacle to a fuller trust of Him? Consider taking this to prayer this week and watching for how He will reveal Himself in your life.

Verse for the week:

“But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26 NRSVCE

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