God of the Impossible

A couple weeks ago, I shared my impressions about the book The Insanity of God. The book spoke to me, encouraged me, in ways I did not expect when I started reading it.

Not long after finishing the book, I began reading through the book of Jeremiah in my personal devotions. I did not anticipate how much Jeremiah would resonate with me this time through, especially after reading The Insanity of God. 

Jeremiah was speaking to the nation of Israel. That fact must remain clear in the interest of being hermeneutically sound. 

Jeremiah’s grief over God’s impending judgment is palpable. So many times he groans with the pain of his message. “Ah, Lord GOD!” Yet he continues to be obedient to God in the face of opposition and disobedience.

Jeremiah 32 opens with King Zedekiah throwing Jeremiah into prison because he dislikes Jeremiah’s message from God. Then, God comes to Jeremiah with an unusual request: Redeem a field from his cousin and preserve the record of that transaction.

His message? Israel will once again possess the land.

Jeremiah obeys without question, but then he cries out to God. He knows God is almighty. He knows God has given Israel the promised land. But they disobeyed and now the enemy is preparing to overthrow them and carry them captive. Yet God has asked him to buy a field for money in the face of an enemy possessing the land.

What was God’s response? 

Then God shares how He will bring back Israel from captivity and how they will serve Him forever.

Just like when I read The Insanity of God, when I read this in Jeremiah I realized how much I limit God. I know in my head He is the God of the impossible, but I don’t act like He is. I find it hard to believe Him with my limited human understanding.

So many times I look at the situations around me and in the world today and I groan inside myself, “Ah, Lord God!” What can I do? What difference can I make? Why do things happen the way they do? Why does it seem like evil is winning in the world around us?

It sounds trite to say it, but I have to shift my focus off the world around me and look to God. I can’t. He can. Nothing is too hard for Him. He can do the impossible.

I can’t do anything lasting. But God can.

I can’t make a real difference. But God can.

I can’t understand why bad things happen. But God can.

I can’t stop the trek of evil across the world. But God can.

The only real, lasting effect I can have is to work alongside the Almighty God of heaven and earth in obedience to Him. It isn’t fatalism or even stepping back and doing nothing. It’s finding how He wants me to obey and then doing it.

Here’s the kicker: He wants me to ask Him to do it! He wants to do the impossible! Why? Because He can!

He is, after all, the God of the Impossible.