God Specializes in Impossibilities

It had been a long, hot day. They’d ministered to people for hours. When suppertime rolled around, the weary disciples did what made sense to them—they told Jesus to send the crowds away. “They can go to nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat,” they said.

“You feed them,” Jesus replied. (Mark 6:37)

Imagine the look of disbelief on the disciples’ faces. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding,” they said. “With what? We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” (Mark 6:35-37)

Impossible!

The disciples were right. Humanly speaking, feeding 5,000 men and their families was an impossible task. But impossible tasks were Jesus’ specialty, and this event was a perfect opportunity for His power to be revealed. And revealed it was.

Five loaves of bread and two fish, in Jesus’ hands, multiplied to feed the masses with twelve baskets leftover.  Imagine the expression on the disciples’ faces now!

God still asks people to do the impossible

Fast forward to life today. Sometimes God gives us tasks that seem ludicrous to us. “Volunteer on the PTA,” He says. “Get involved in politics on a local level. Foster a child. Volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center. Teach a Bible study. Upgrade your education. Write. Go on a short-term missions trip.”

Do any of these sound familiar?

Our tendency is to try to figure out how to accomplish the task on our own. “With what?” we ask.

Perhaps we need to revamp our responses and, instead, remember that God specializes in impossibilities. If He gives us marching orders, He’s already covered the details. We just need to say yes, and then He gives us front row seats to watch Him do the impossible through us.