God of the Impossible

I have been meditating for a month now on two Scriptures. I can't seem to get past them, which I'm completely okay with. They say this, "'Have faith in God,' Jesus answered. 'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:22-24) and Luke 18:27 "Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.'" It would be so easy to take that first Scripture and adopt a "name it and claim it" philosophy of prayer, but that's not what it's about. It's about having faith in God- which most people seem to skip over when looking at that Scripture. Believe that you have received it and it will be yours- not just because you want it so badly, but because we have faith in a God who can do the impossible. I realized a while ago that I haven't had much faith. My dog, whom i love :), was limping from an old injury that he had before i got him. Well I prayed and asked God to heal him and then i watched and waited for him to limp again. What kind of faith is that? It isn't really. God brought this to my attention so I confessed my lack of faith and i began praying "God I believe, help my unbelief!" My dog hasn't limped since. He increased my faith in Him to do the impossible.
It's not just belief in what we say will happen, because we say it will happen. It's belief in what we say will happen because we have a God of the impossible; we have faith in Him, not ourselves and our ability to wish things into existence.

Yesterday as i was praying for a friend's wife who has been diagnosed with cancer, i realized how scary it can be to hope in our God who can do the impossible. There are so many questions- what if He doesn't heal her in the physical realm? What if it's her time to go? What if what if what if? Yet it's so important to have faith in Him no matter what our circumstances- to have faith in Him, because He is the God of the impossible. It is a scary thing to place our trust in Him, to fully believe in our heart that He will do the impossible for us because we're afraid of the let down. So typically what we do is allow a spot in our heart to doubt just in case, so we won't be totally unprepared for the worst, we won't be totally disappointed should He choose not to answer our requests. But what kind of faith is that in a God of the impossible? Do we not trust His character, His timing, His faithfulness, His desire for our good because maybe He hasn't answered prayers the way we wanted Him to? Do we qualify our prayers with doubt in His power and ability to do the impossible?

Time and time again over the past month or so He has presented me with impossible situations- situations that only He can be the answer to. He has shown me over and over His faithfulness, His power, His loving character. He has shown me that He can heal. He has shown me that He can change the hearts of man. He has shown me we can place our full faith in Him. He has shown me that there is no need for doubt. He has shown Himself to be the God of the impossible.

Curses into Blessing

A while back I had the heartfelt desire to read through the Old Testament. Yes, even those crazy books of Laws, laws and more laws. There are some true treasures in those books that I am so glad I read. However, the one for today comes from Genesis 9 and Deuteronomy 8. In Genesis 9, Noah and his children have survived the flood and Noah has made himself a little drink. I'm sure after being on a boat with all kinds of animals for 40 days, he was a little weary. So he drinks... a little too much and winds up naked in his tent. His son, Ham, comes and sees him naked and goes to tell his brothers. His brothers, being older and wiser, carry a blanket over their shoulders and walk in backwards in order not to see their father's nakedness. When Noah awakes and finds out that Ham saw him, he curses.... no, not Ham, but Ham's son, Canaan. He is to be the lowest of his family and his descendents will serve the descendents of Shem and Japheth. He is cursed. His descendents are cursed. They become the Canannites who live in the land of Canaan.
Later on, along comes a man named Moses. Moses leads the Israelites out of slavery and away from Egypt. The Lord is leading them to the promised land; the land flowing with milk and honey. The land in Deuteronomy 8 is described this way "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. 8 It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. 9 It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. 10 When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you." And who has been inhabiting this land? What is this land called? Not just the promised land, but the land of Canaan. It's the land of the Canaanites. They have cultivated this land and it has been a land of blessing. Here is a man who was cursed by Noah, his descendants were cursed and yet they were living in the land of blessing.
At first i thought, "Why Lord would You do that? Why would you turn that which is cursed into that which is blessed?" And that's as far as I needed to go. I was once cursed, but now I'm blessed. I was a land that was deserted and unfertile, but now my land is called "married" and the Lord calls me "My delight is in her." (Isaiah 62) The Lord is in the business of turning curses into blessings, of turning beauty into ashes, of turning mourning into dancing, of turning bad situations into good. But it doesn't stop there.
Not only is the land of the Canaanites blessed, but the blessing is used for the purposes of God. If you notice, the Canaanites were driven out of the land and the blessings of their land were used for the people of God. So not only has God turned my life from cursed to blessed, but He will use the blessings He's given to me and put in me for His purposes and His people. He will use them to advance His Kingdom and He will do the same with you! You have been taken up out of the pit of hell. Your life was cursed and through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, YOU ARE BLESSED!!!! He has turned you around and will use the blessing of your life for His purposes!!! He has a purpose for you!!! You will impact His Kingdom!!! Praise be to God!