Selling God Short

Scientists know that human beings are capable of doing far more then they believe they are capable of.  When it comes to endurance activities (running, lifting, etc.) most people can do 20-30% more than they have ever done before.  Think about that for a moment, you can do 20-30% more than you have ever done.  If you have lifted 10lbs, you likely can lift 12lbs, if you have biked 10 miles, you could do 12.  We continually sell ourselves, short, underestimating our ability to do a number of things. I believe that is not the only arena of life that we underestimate.

In Matthew 19:26 Jesus is talking with His disciples and he says this, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  With God all things are possible, but with us, of course there are a number of things that impossible.  Do we sell God short though?  Jesus was speaking to the disciples because they knew what Jesus proposed was impossible by human standards, so how could God do it?  We often ask the very same question.  We talk about the importance of humility, of not being boastful, but in reality what we are often doing is selling God short.  For someone to say, it is impossible for me to lift 400lbs is both humble, and a realistic statement.  To say that God could not move those 400lbs, because I cannot do it, is not humble, it is almost prideful.  Essentially it is saying, “God can’t do that because I said so, because I can’t understand how it would even work.”  Remember though, faith is not believing what we have already seen and done or what we can comprehend and put parameters around, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

Scripture is filled with story after story of God doing things that have never been done before: making the sun stand still in the sky, changing water into wine, raising people from the dead, restoring sight to the blind, and providing food and refreshment in the middle of a barren desert, just to name a few.  God has a habit of reminding His people not to place Him in box, because God will just show us how much bigger He is than any box we could construct.

The next time you look at a circumstance or even think it can’t, it won’t.  Stop for a moment and think, just because I can’t or am not able, who says God can’t or won’t?  Faith looks at challenges and instead of seeing trouble and challenge, instead understands an opportunity to learn greater dependence on God, and to see God at work in a powerful way.

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

  1. What is one place or situation in your life that seems impossible?
  2. What are your greatest challenges to believing that God can?
  3. Where are you eager to see God do “impossible” things in your life?  Take a moment to lift that up to God in prayer.