Impossible Task?

I love the persistence of my one year old.  Today I watched as she tried again and again to wad of a string of beads and get all of it to fit into her tiny little hand at once.  An impossible task.  But the beauty of it was that she didn't know it was an impossible task and so she kept at it...for about as long as a one year old keeps at anything before moving on to the next thing.

We adults put so many limits on ourselves, each other, and regretfully even God.  We have long lists of things that seem impossible.

What's on your list?  Graduating from high school or college, getting a job, getting married, beating an addiction, sharing your faith with others, healing from deep hurts, becoming president :)...?

And I don't know about you, but when I encounter something that seems impossible, I tend not to be as persistent as a one year old with a fist full of beads.

The reality is that we have it all wrong.  Let me show you what God says about impossible.

Matthew 17:20 says "He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”"

Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

In Luke 18:27 Jesus says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

I read today in 2 Thessalonians 1:11 and 12 how God comes up behind us and adds his power and strength to our efforts.  The Message version says, "we...pray that he'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something."

What the Word is telling us is that on our own things may be impossible, but with God working in us and through us, we have the power to change ourselves, overcome our fears, and change the world for the glory of God.