Friday, December 25, 2015

impossible?

Today's readings: Zechariah 8:1-23, Revelation 16:1-21, Psalm 144:1-15, Proverbs 30:29-31

Merry Christmas!

Today God asks us, in the OT reading, "Is it impossible for me?" And we know that it isn't. Nothing is impossible for God.

The inimitable C.S. Lewis once pointed out that "nonsense doesn't stop being nonsense just because we put the words 'God can' in front of it." In other words, asking hypothetical questions like "Can God make a rock bigger than He can carry?" or "Can God both be and not be at the same time?" don't suddenly make sense because we say "God can..."

On the other hand.... today we celebrate God doing just that. If you had asked someone 3000 years ago, "Can God be born? Can God die?" They would have said, "Of course not! God is eternal!"

And they would have been right... in that God IS eternal. But God WAS born. We celebrate that impossible feat today. He DID die. We'll remember that in a few months, when Easter gets here. He DID things that are logically impossible.

And that's what He does. He turns the question on its ear. He'll do that in YOUR life, too. When you run into a wall, and you just don't see how you can get out of it THIS time... if you ask Him for help, He'll answer you. Sometimes He doesn't answer the question you're asking. Sometimes He changes the question itself.

His ways are far above our ways, and His thoughts are so far above our thoughts that we can't imagine them. But we can trust Him.

He's not a tame lion. But He is good.

Thank You, God, for doing the impossible.