by Robert Jacobs
God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible. — Oswald Chambers
Our God is truly the God of the impossible. As I mentioned in my last devotional, we often try to limit Him by dictating how He should meet our needs. However, often what we think is “best” is sadly determined by the limits of what we think is possible. We think that an emotionally dependent relationship is the “best” kind of relationship because we have never experienced a healthy friendship. We will hook up with countless strangers because, as so many people at LHM have articulated to me, “it’s the best I can do and more than I deserve.” We will accept our feelings as unshakable truth because we cannot imagine ever feeling any other way.
Yet the whole Christmas narrative is about God doing the impossible. Luke begins his account of Christ’s advent by telling the story of John’s birth and the birth of John was nothing short of a miracle. John’s father, Zachariah, was an “old man and [his] wife [Elizabeth was] well along in years” (Luke 1:18). According to the laws of nature, these two should never have been able to produce life. Likewise, Mary should never have been able to conceive a child as she was a virgin, yet she gave birth to Christ. Something from nothing. Life out of impossibility.
And just so you don’t think this is only a Christmas thing, know that God has been in the business of bringing forth life out of the impossible for a long time. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, gave birth though she was well advanced in age (Genesis 17:15–21). Hanna, Samuel’s mother, was reckoned barren when she gave birth to her son (1 Samuel 1:1–20). And the list goes on and on. Even The first verses of Genesis speak to God’s penchant for making something from nothing.
Rest assured, God is still bringing life from seemingly impossible situations. In fact, that is what LHM is all about. The world tells those who struggle with same-sex attraction that you must embrace those feelings, that if you don’t you will be unfulfilled and incomplete. Thus, our culture places us into a false dilemma: follow God and be miserably lacking or fully embrace a gay identity to find peace and satisfaction.
Yet LHM is full of participants that can attest that such a dichotomy is simply not true. We can find satisfaction, fulfillment, and joy through following Jesus. We can find a community of acceptance in the body of Christ. And we can bring forth life in situations where the world thinks we shouldn’t. In fact, I know of three babies who have been born to LHM participants this year alone (with several more on the way), lives that never would have existed if these individuals had chosen to follow their feelings over following Jesus.
We must all ask ourselves, do I believe that Jesus can do what looks impossible? Do I think that He can bring me a healthy friendship? Do I think that I can find fulfillment in Him? The answer to all of these questions is yes. However, you cannot force Him to act as you desire. He will, instead, provide for you in the best way as only He can see from his divine perspective, for Jesus “[does] everything well” (Mark 7:37). May we believe that truth this holiday season and for the rest of our lives.