Thought of the Day !!

The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's already in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
Luke 1:35-37 (NLT)

The angel has come to Mary to tell her that she's going to have a son. This, of course, is impossible. She's never even had sex. At the same time the angel tells her that her relative Elizabeth, who is an old woman that has never been able to have children, is pregnant as well. Again, impossible.

Impossible situations still exist today. Ex-friends can't seem to forgive each other over something that's past. A person has been in a terrible car wreck and surely will not survive the night. A kid graduates high school drinking his way towards alcoholism. People claim that there's no hope for him. A disaster hits and it seems impossible to have to start over, building a new home and an new life. A man strives for the almighty dollar, working all week and partying all weekend. There's no way he'll get out of bed and become a churchgoer. A lady has been given six months to live. She won't make it to see his grandchildren graduate school. A baby is born with a defect and won't live more than a year. Wars of hate seem to go on forever. People get married and are expected to divorce. There are so many impossibilities in this world. There are so many obstacles that seem just too hard.

But with God, nothing is impossible. God can fix relationships. God can help us start over. God can pull us out of the mess that we've created for ourselves in our lives. He can reach out, and He can heal. He can even make a barren woman and a virgin girl pregnant.

What we see as impossible is simply a lack of faith. Does God fix everything in our lives so that we can live them comfortably, never having to lift a finger? Of course not. Part of this is because He knows a thing or two about how spoiled children can behave. And He loves us enough not to spoil us. But instead, He teachs us and allows us to grow.

Because of sin in our lives and in our world, our lives will never be perfect. But God does pay perfect attention to our prayers. He listens, but sometimes He knows that the best answer is "no" or "not yet". And most of the problems we have, we have because we either won't reach out to God, we won't trust Him, or we try to follow our own selfish ways instead of His.

God is still the one who can make impossible things possible if we will only trust in Him. He is still the one who makes Christmas a miracle. And since nothing is impossible with God, may we all reach out to Him this Christmas, seeking a miracle in our lives and in our communities.

In the love of Christ,
greg