Possibility Thinking, Part 1

The subject I take up today is of extreme importance to believers in God. It is important that they not only believe in what God does, but that they believe in what God can do, in what is possible with God. Hence, the title of today’s meditation is Possibility Thinking.

Let’s begin by defining the word possible.

Possible – That may be (i.e. is capable of being); that may or can exist, be done or happen (in general, or in given or assumed conditions or circumstances); that is in one’s own power, that one can do, exert, use, etc.

In Jeremiah 32, we find Jeremiah shut up in prison. He was imprisoned for prophesying the defeat and captivity of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans who were then besieging the city. It was at this very time when Jerusalem was besieged and Jeremiah was in prison that the Lord instructed Jeremiah to buy a piece of land from his cousin Hanameel, because the right of redemption was Jeremiah’s to buy it. Now Jeremiah knew full well that he would not be able to take possession of the land because the Chaldeans would occupy it. Yet Jeremiah was told to buy it anyway, because God promised that a time would come when the Jews would return out of captivity to their land, and property would be bought and owned again. This was the promise:

Jeremiah 32:42  For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

43  And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

44  Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

At the time the Lord instructed Jeremiah to redeem his cousin’s property, the political and economic future of the Jews was bleak indeed. It looked highly unlikely that property would ever be possessed by Jews in their land again. Nevertheless, Jeremiah was told to act in expectation that it would happen. Jeremiah acted in the confidence that nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Jeremiah 32:17  Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee….

Jeremiah 32:26  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

27  Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

So from this story we have an example of what I call possibility thinking. Jeremiah did not just focus on the immediate circumstances. The Lord called him to look beyond that to what is possible, to what the Lord can do.

As far as what the Lord can do, consider this passage:

Ephesians 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Think of the greatest thing you can ask of the Lord. Not only is the Lord able to do what you ask, He is able to do above what you ask. In fact, He is able to do above all that you ask. But not only that, He can do above all that you can even think. Think the greatest thought you can think and you still have not extended your thoughts to the full extent of God’s ability. But God is not only able to do above all that you can ask or think, He is abundantly (overflowingly, exceedingly) able to do above all that you ask or think. God’s power extends far more than just a step beyond the furthest reaches of your imagination. And there’s more. God is exceeding (extremely) abundantly able to do above all that you ask or think. God can not only do overflowingly and exceedingly beyond everything you ask or think, He can do so extremely overflowingly and exceedingly. God’s power extends extremely beyond the extremes of anything we can verbalize or imagine. All this being true, it is no wonder that He said to the virgin Mary after He announced that she would bear a son:

Luke 1:37  For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Now let’s connect this fact of God’s unfathomable ability to your faith. I bring faith into the picture here because your faith will be according to what you think God is able to do. If you do not think God can do great things beyond your asking or even imagining, you will not believe He is able to do them. Consider this passage that relates the healing of a leper by our Lord Jesus:

Mark 1:40  And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

41  And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

42  And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

Observe in this passage that that leper did not say the Lord would heal him. He rather said the Lord could heal him, if He so willed. Here was an expression of faith in the Lord’s ability to do what the leper wanted. It was not a matter of ability on the part of the Lord to heal the leper; it was a matter of His willingness to do so. The leper believed Jesus was able to do what he asked. In fact, he was so convinced that Jesus could cleanse him of his leprosy, that he came “beseeching (begging) him.” And Jesus responded to this expression of faith and cleansed him of his leprosy. This is a clear example of possibility thinking.

Jesus expressed similar faith in the garden of Gethsemane when He prayed:

Mark 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Again, it was not a matter of what was possible unto God; it was a matter of His willingness.

I am not done with this meditation. But for now, look at your life. Are you struggling with a physical or mental health issue that you wish would get better? Are you struggling with a troubled relationship that you long to see improved? Is your job interfering with your church life? Are you removed from the church by great distance and wish you lived closer so you could be more active in the church? Are you frustrated in your attempts to witness to others of the truth of the gospel? Now I ask you:  Do you think, do you believe the Lord is able to do anything to improve your situation at this time?  Notice I did not ask if you believe the Lord will do something to improve it at this time. Do you believe the Lord can, if He will? And do you believe it enough to at least ask Him to do something about it to make it better, if He will? To be sure, you may not have a specific promise like Jeremiah did that God will change your situation in this life. But you do have verses that teach that it is possible with God as I have shown you. So again – and I will leave you with this for now – do you believe the Lord is able to do anything to improve your situation?