God's Starting Point

“Impossible is God’s starting point.” This quote by Christine Caine has been stuck in my head the last several weeks.

I was sitting in a hotel room in Phoenix with my husband and our twin daughters two weeks ago as we prepared to move Jenna into a dorm room in a university twelve hours from our home in Colorado. We were all feeling the stress of this upcoming “adventure” and our twins were trying to process the fact that for the first time in their twenty-two years of life, they would be living in separate states.

Unspoken questions filled our minds: Would God make a way for Jenna here? She had encountered countless obstacles at our local university which had left her feeling defeated and ashamed … how would this be different? Would she be lonely? How would Megan cope with the separation?

I was finishing a blog about an entirely different subject, but in the turmoil of unanswered questions, the only words I could type were: “Impossible is God’s starting point.”… “Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37) … “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14)

These thoughts resonated with pictures from His Word: He spoke all of creation into existence without even breaking a sweat. He parted the Red Sea, raised the dead, healed the blind, walked on water, transformed lives through the power of His Word, and overcame sin and death on a cross. He killed a giant using a shepherd boy and a stone, leveled the city of Jericho with shouts and trumpets, made a donkey talk, transformed a murderous Saul into a fiery preacher named Paul, rescued an adulterous woman from an accusing mob and left an empty grave as a continual reminder that we serve a Living Redeemer who not only conquered death but Reigns Supremely and Sovereignly as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Jesus is our Conquering Hero … an All-Powerful, All-Knowing Warrior … who not only fights for us but loves us beyond all our imaginings. (Exodus 15:3, Jeremiah 31:3)

So why is my first response in impossible situations a wimpy, fearful, stressed out - “Is this too hard for you God?” rather than a courageous, faith-filled, fiery declaration: “My God’s got this! Nothing is impossible for Him! Nothing and no one can stand in His way! All His promises are backed by the honor of His name! He promised … He will do it … that settles it!”

Back in that hotel room in Phoenix, as my heart and mind were filled with these pictures of our Lord’s conquering power and relentless love, Megan announces that our family needs to pray for Jenna who was battling a fresh wave of fear and worry. I love the way God went before me preparing me for this conversation. Words of hope, power, and promise poured over us, washing away all fear.

We talked about how God had been showing off for us that very day. We had been driving through Phoenix when Megan noticed a partial rainbow in the sky. Beautiful and unexpected, it seemed to come out of nowhere, and yet we all saw it and knew without a doubt God had placed it there just for us. At that moment, “I lift my hands to believe again” by Chris Tomlin began playing on the radio!

And then God showed up in another powerful way! The next day after picking Jenna up from her orientation, I glanced at the ACU T-shirt she’d been given, and was stunned to see that the verse on the front was the same verse God had given me for her when she was only two years old. Tears filled my eyes as I read Micah 6:8: a reminder of God’s goodness which empowers us to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

Over the five days we were in Phoenix, we were continually amazed by the tender mercies of our God who ministered to us personally and powerfully through the care and kindness of very dear friends as well as the faculty, students, and staff at Jenna’s new university.

I wonder how many of us need to be reminded today that our Lord and Savior is an Ever-Present, All-Powerful God who goes before us into every situation and delights in providing for all our needs in ways we never would have imagined.

May the word “impossible” cease to strike fear in our hearts and instead fill us with a courageous, fiery faith that anticipates the tender mercies and obstacle-demolishing power of our Almighty God!