Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

This is a vitally important, fundamental principle that we give lip service to, and at the same time have great difficulty really believing on an emotional level. It’s particularly interesting because it was spoken in relation to the difficulty of getting into God’s kingdom. The disciples were quite astonished because Jesus said it expressly in relation to wealthy people, and from the disciples’ viewpoint, the wealthy had an easier job of following all the religious regulations. I think Jesus said what He did because the wealthy tend to trust in their wealth, rather than in God. However, no amount of wealth will excuse you from death, and the more you have, the more people are likely to fight over it after you’re gone. I’ve heard people say that the famous “camel through the eye of a needle” statement in verse 25 simply means you can’t take it with you, but I think it was more literal than that. Jesus was using something that, humanly speaking, was obviously impossible, in order to build up to the statement in this verse. We are created in God’s image, (Genesis 1:27) but we tend to imagine God in our image, and we make all sorts of mistakes in consequence. We throw around the word, omnipotence, but we have no emotional or even intellectual grasp of it, because we are so obviously finite and limited. Saving mankind was an obviously impossible task, but God went to the absurd length of sending Himself, in the Person of His Son, to become a human being in every sense and then take the penalty for our sin on Himself. That is the ultimate example of God making the impossible possible, and it applies whether you are Elon Musk or dirt poor.

It’s very interesting that this is the passage for today, when I woke up with Don Moen’s song, God Will Make a Way, on my heart and mind. It fits perfectly with what Jesus says here. I have seen many “impossible” things happen in my life, whether anyone around me recognized them as “miraculous” our not. I should have this statement by Jesus ingrained in my heart, but I still get anxious about things at times. My wife and I are now less than three weeks away from our first overseas trip in seven years, and it seems “impossible” on several fronts. In the first place, my wife was at peace with the idea that she would never visit the US again in this life, with her medical conditions, but God said, “Not so fast.” In the second place, the finances are hardly trivial, but God has provided. In the third place, there’s the feeling we’re leaving this church “in the lurch” by taking off for three weeks, but God is making it very clear that this is a very necessary step in the spiritual growth of the church, as well as in the individual believers. There are a number of things that aren’t clear yet, but they too will become clear as necessary, and we are to rest, relax, and rejoice in our Lord as we literally “go along for the ride.” Many years ago the Lord told me, “Don’t be surprised at what surprises others. Expect great things of Me.” I don’t think of that Word to me very often, but maybe I need to keep it in focus, because nothing is impossible with Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for how often You wake me up with a song in my heart and mind – even when I’m still half asleep! May I truly live out all the truth You have poured into me, so that my faithfulness may be pleasing to You, and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!