Heart Tracks - How Can This Be?

"You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name Him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High......"Mary asked the angel, 'How can this be? I am a virgin.' The angel replied, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you....For nothing is impossible with God.' " Luke 1:31-32, 34-35, 37...." 'How shall this be?' - that is the query of men since the beginning when faced with the message of the supernatural power of God. The natural man cannot receive or comprehend how God works His wonders of grace. The answer is, 'With God nothing shall be impossible.' " Vance Havner

I am more and more coming to see that we who profess to believe and follow Him are living in one of two realms. Either we are living in the country of "How can this be?" or the realm of "With God, nothing is impossible." Then again, perhaps there is a third country. It would be inhabited by those who seemingly spend their lives traveling between the first two. Only one of them is a true safe haven in Him. Which do you think it is?

We in the western Church have become so inundated by our culture that we are far more comfortable and accepting of the "natural man's" way of seeing life than we are of the "supernatural's." Rational thought, reason, and logical thinking are at the forefront. We've become very skillful at it. So much so that we have succeeded in rationalizing away much of the supernatural wonder of His Word and works. If our natural minds cannot grasp or explain something, we then seem obligated to question it. We live in that realm of "How can this be?" and most often conclude that "it can't be." So it isn't. Small wonder that an unbelieving world is not much impressed with what we say we believe. How could they when it seems that we don't really believe the One we say we believe in?

It can be very comfortable to live in the natural all the time. It gives us a feeling of control, and we feel like we have a real handle on the ways of the God we say we follow. However, it is not at all comfortable to live in the realm of "Nothing is impossible with God." Not comfortable to our flesh anyway. Living in this country means we live lives of surrender and trust. We believe in a God who not only can do all things, but more, we are surrendered to Him whether He does what we seek or not. Believing that nothing is impossible means that He makes it possible to live in victory even when He doesn't answer us as we hope. It may be that the greatest supernatural work in a believer is when they can and do live as overcomers even when all around them is collapsing. What seems impossible to go through is made totally possible by the grace and power of the Father. Living in this country means we live in expectation of His working miracles, whether they be of the spectacular, noticed by all, or the quiet, noticed only by us. Oh that the Church would enter into this country. His country.

Too often, I've spent my life going back and forth between the two realms. Believing that nothing is impossible for a time, than, when He didn't respond as hoped and in the time expected, moving over into the "How can this be?" country. It is a miserable way of life, and for too many, it is all we know. Maybe it's what we know right now. The realm of "Nothing is impossible with God," calls to us all. Our hearts hear it. It bids us leave the false comfort of believing we've got it all figured out, and enter into His life of wonder. It also calls us to leave the realm of the double-minded, always going back and forth between "two opinions." All things are possible. Nothing will be impossible. It is an endless land, and surely, there is room for you and me. Will we enter into it?

Many today still talk of "the wonder of Christmas," in the Church especially. Sadly, that wonder is too often confined to the sight of children opening presents, beautiful light displays, and lovely trees. Our wonder stops with these. We miss the real wonder of He who is the greatest gift, the brightest light, and the most lovely of faces. Embrace the Wonder. In Him, all things are possible.

Blessings,
Pastor O