FAITH TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE
We live in a world filled with doubt and uncertainty. Over time, we most likely have become accustomed to a heavy weight of negativity that surrounds us. As believers, one of the most difficult things we can do is to fight off the waves of unbelief crashing around us and stay focused on God’s Word. When others tell us about what isn’t possible, our trust in Jesus gives us the ability to do the impossible.
We’re involved in a battle every day, but it’s a spiritual fight taking place in the mind. Our enemy, Satan, regularly works through other people and situations trying to convince us to accept an “it’s hopeless” mindset. He says to look around us and see what’s happening, and suggests that maybe what we’re believing for is impossible By comparison, God says to look up, because limitations don’t exist in Him. “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).
Jesus gave this encouragement to a man whose son was possessed by demons, who came to Him for help out of desperation. No one else had been able to help them, and the situation looked impossible. What made the difference was not just what Jesus did, but the man’s willingness to have faith in Him. “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). This is the kind of faith we need to overcome our own personal demons when they show up.
The devil’s lies and attacks take many forms; he always aims for our weakest points, trying to find a chink in our armor. He has influenced the world because most people don’t know the power of having unshakable faith in Jesus. However, despite the inroads the devil has made, our right-believing gives us the power to stop him in his tracks. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16).
Unbelief itself is sin; letting it enter into our minds can make our spirits heavy with discouragement and despair. Getting distracted by what’s going on around us and losing our focus on Jesus only reinforces our fear and contaminates our faith. When we begin feeling this way, surrounding ourselves with other believers strengthens us and redirects our focus back to where it should be. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1, 2).
We can’t base our beliefs on what we see, because what we see is too unreliable. Things can change right before our eyes. Trusting in what God says keeps us grounded. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
We don’t have to settle for the type of defeat that others with no spiritual vision meekly accept. We know the joy of Jesus’ victory over the impossible; we also know that we share in this victory.“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). Relying on what Christ did for us on the cross quiets the doubters, pessimists, and skeptics who tell us something can’t be done. His finished works prove otherwise.
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