It’s *Not* Impossible

For the last 7 years, most Thursday mornings, my prayer partner and I meet together to pray. When she moved out of state a few years back, we could not bear to stop praying together. Thankful for Skype and the blessing of technology, we still ‘meet’ together even though we are just about 1,000 miles apart.

She sipping tea and me with my coffee we share hearts, victories, grief,
updates, challenges and prayer requests.

Then we pray together.

We have seen some very real mountains move over the last seven years.  
Mountains that were deemed “impossible” have been 
completely obliterated 
because of the mighty moving of our all-powerful God.

This morning as I shared a request, that would be probably deemed “impossible”,
Chelsea suddenly said,

“Well if it’s impossible, 
then you know that’s exactly what 
God is going to do.”

I stopped dead in my tracks.

It’s true.

Between Chelsea and I, over the last seven years, we’ve had many, many “impossible” circumstances.


Yet each time, God has made the impossible totally possible.

What about you today….

what’s “impossible” or at least what circumstance seems like it’s “impossible” for you?

Do you see the beautiful little hamlet nestled below the mountains in the picture above??
The mountains are so stunning.
They are also enormous!
They completely dwarf the village.  

“Jesus answered and said unto them, 
Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, 
and doubt not, 
ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, 
but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, 
Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; 
it shall be done.” Mark 11:23

Could it be that God uses the illustration of mountains in Mark 11:23 not only because of their ginormous size but also because of their beauty?  Could it even be that there is a parallel between the physical beauty and the spiritual beauty in our lives of each “mountain”?

Each mountain giving us a place to further grow in our faith and trust…

Let the record state:

God is definitely up to the task of moving every mountain and making each “impossible” possible.

Need your home to sell?
A different job?
A diagnosis?
A business to take off?
Relocation direction?
A relationship reconciled?
Thousands of dollars for a treasure or two to come home?
Favor in a foreign country?
One government piece of paper?

There is nothing that is too difficult for God.

Nothing means:  No thing

I have personally found that after presenting the impossible situation to the Lord, the very best thing I can do is to begin to praise Him for moving the very mountains that seemingly stand in the way of the answer.

If I don’t begin to praise Him, I know me and I can easily begin to try to figure it out.

I used to think:  “This needs to happen, so that this will happen, and then….”

But a few years back I learned a secret for my life:

After presenting the impossible situation to the Lord, 
I began to praise Him for the mountains and for bringing the answer.


And no, not every answer has looked like I thought it would.


Praising Him takes my mind off the situation 
and 
puts it on the character of God:



He is faithful.
He is the provider.
He is the healer.
He never sleeps.
He never changes.
He doesn’t lie.
He is attentive.
He is working.
He loves each of us beyond what we can even imagine.
He wants our best.
He has our back.

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

What impossible thing is burdening you down?  
Give it to Him and begin to praise Him 
for moving the mountains. 
To Him, your mountain is nothing to move. 

36 thoughts on “It’s *Not* Impossible

  1. O, so beautiful, thank you! Sometimes all of life, the whole business of living, feels impossible because there are just SO MANY complications! I totally identified with you when you said that you used to pray, "I need this to happen, so that then this can happen, so then . . . ." That's exactly how life often feels to me, just too overwhelming. But God is teaching me to calm down and just pray about one specific thing in each situation, not every little detail. But the things that you said here, your list of God's "Father" attributes and His great kindness toward us in our distress, are very comforting. I need to put a picture of a mountain near where I pray! 🙂 On a different note, did you know that Chicken Soup for the Soul is looking for stories of overcoming severe brain injuries? I thought of Karl and of Ruby when I saw the message yesterday. If you are interested in learning more about that opportunity to share these miracles, you can find the writer's guidelines at chickensoup.com. I have never submitted anything to them but know many writers who have, and so far none of my acquaintances have complained about their experience with the organization.

  2. ….AAAND perfect timing again as I began to look too close at the rocks and not at the mountain this morning!

    "I began to praise Him for the mountains and for bringing the answer."

    This is so profound, because if we praise him for the mountain, it's no longer a problem but an opportunity.

    As you know, I've already seen great fruit in my life because of the mountain I've asked him to move. It's about much more than adoption…..

  3. From Dave Van Etten

    A friend I have made through the BMT Survivors Club on Facebook just messaged me with an update. Because of her "highly unusual" DNA she was told by her doctors that she would never get a perfect 10 out of 10 match. They were hoping for maybe an 8 or 9 out of 10, but so far all she had been hearing was: "No Match" – and that being what you hear when the difference is life or death, means death. So….she just messaged me: Wait for it….wait for it…..
    Yea, 10 out of 10. Confirmed today. She will be heading to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston soon to start her transplant process!

    1. You've got me crying friend. I just read your comment to Dw and he his hands raised offering shouts of praise! Oh yay!! God is sooo big. He's big enough to cover your BMT too. He's got your back and He *definitely* loves you immeasurably. We love you DV!!

  4. Linny–We need to fund our next adoption. With our last adoption we sold our camper, had only one car for more than a year, didn't have a computer or tv (did the paperwork at the library), skipped out on movies and other entertainment, sold lots of stuff and I was working as a caretaker for a teen with autism. Now we have downsized our mortgage by half. We shop sales, goodwill and ebay. Coupon the brands we need. We recently did get a computer and internet because my husband often works from home. We absolutely still have everything we need, but coming up with this next fund will be more challenging because we don't have much to sell and I am no longer working because I need to be here with my littles. We know God is going to make this happen. I love and believe this verse. Last weekend I was at a conference where the speaker esentially said, "God loves you so much that He gives you MORE than you can handle (so you will rely on Him)"

  5. I think you were supposed to write this for me today. I didn't even get my prayer request shared yesterday. Our little foster girl so needs permanency in her life. Birth mom's rights have been terminated, but birth dad is still allowed to visit her, and she has a hearing coming up the first week in Sept. Pray that the judge will move to terminate birth dad's rights.

  6. Yes, Linny! Nothing is too big for God and He specializes in the impossible! Wonderful post and great reminder to praise Him before, during and after the needed miracle. And isn't each breath we take a small miracle?!

  7. "Praising Him takes my mind off the situation
    and
    puts it on the character of God:"
    What an awesome sentence! Alex and I are in the middle of a transition that will take us clear to the other side of the United States. I am just like you, even though the Holy Spirit gives us very clear steps to take, and provides every detail along the way, I still seem to want more more more details. Then I think too much and try to make things happen within my own power and ugh…. we all know that's a sinking ship…..putting my hands down at my side and completely trusting Him is so simple its just plain hard at times 😉 But oh boy oh boy oh boy is He ever faithful to continue bringing every little detail in place despite me. I just love Him so much!!!! Thanks for such a wonderful post today.

  8. Oh Linny thank you for this reminder! I had my second interview today for a position I'd very much like. It has come down to me and one other candidate. My first interview was Tuesday, when we were all praying and fasting for one another.

    Now I will start thanking the Lord in this situation and answering our prayers regarding this job!

    Tomorrow at 345 p.m. central time I have an interview for the same position at an elementary school in the District.

    I will keep you posted on how God moves.

    Blessings,
    Suzanne

  9. I'm in a heap of tears reading this post. It's EXACTLY what I was talking to God about over the past couple days. Asking for Mountains to Move! Asking Him to show us His might and power to make the Impossible, Possible! Smack in the middle of our international adoption process, asking the Lord for a miracle to bring our daughter home…we are waiting for Him to show us what He will do! So thank you for posting this! What power in the words of the Scripture!

  10. Sometimes it is very hard to imagine those mountains being moved, but I will try harder to give it all to him, then to wait with praise and faith. Thanks for the inspiration!

  11. Amen! Our impossible right now is to get the rest of the funds for our adoption that we are working on in Uganda! Our home study is nearly done, we have our referral and things just need to move our way in the finances department!!!

  12. I've been one of those "lurkers" . . . I have shed tears over your family's hurts and joys, laughed at the stories of your kids, rolled-my-eyes at your suspenseful endings to posts, and so often been encouraged by your heart. I thank God for having me do a quick check of your blog after finishing up writing our own newsletter update – I needed that reminder! My husband and I have a crew of 5 (with one extra special one from China) – and we are in the process of following the Lord overseas to serve Him in India . . . a HUGE adventure and faith-tester at the same time. Right now, in the middle of raising our support, things seem impossible . . . But Praise God, He is the God of the impossible! Thanks for the encouragement tonight!

  13. I am so thankful for this place to come . I am thankful to be a part of such amazing faithful people. I am thankful to be a part of the mountain moving knee team. Just so very thankful beyond words in the midst of my storms.

  14. Linny,

    We've seen the mountains, and boy, were they HUGE. Adopted a teen girl in 2009 from China, found out she had teen brothers sitting at the orphanage- one was "too old" to be adopted. BUT– God not only brought us many, many people who helped us financially, He brought both those boys home to our family to live with their sister. And then when we thought we had "enough" blessings, He gave us a teen that needed rehomed, and ANOTHER treasure from China. The last treasure from China was tough, it took almost 2 years to get her home, but we knew He showed us this girl and meant for her to be our daughter. You even helped Linny, you featured us here on your blog and with 7 days to go, we were fully funded to get that girl on home. She's home now and a total gem. Can't imagine life without her. He always keeps His promises, and our mountains? Well, they belong to HIM. The real ones, and the life ones. We enjoy the real ones (live amongst them in rural PA) and the life ones, we let up to Him. He never fails us:) NEVER.

    1. What a beautiful story He has written in your life. So thankful for your steadfast commitment to the treasures. PS We *love, love, love* the rural mountains of PA…actually honeymooned in a little cabin in the Poconos {not a resort} a little, dinky, rickety cabin…and had a blast – that was 35 years ago this month!

  15. Thank you so much for the beautiful post, just what I needed this morning. I have been trying to convince myself, that there is nothing that God cannot do and if this one thing is meant to happen in our lives, it will happen. We are close to getting our answer, if we are allowed to be parents again and there is approximately 2 people I have talked about this, since it is so personal and the possibility of impossible has felt just too big. Have 3 adopted kids already and that is also one thing: Yes! we are more than thankful, it is sometimes difficult for people to understand, why we want one more…can I ask you to remember us today in your prayers and I myself will remember you in mine?

    Thank you, this post made me happy and helped me understand (remember), that God does provide. Just have to believe and ask. <3

  16. I've climbed a mountain – more than one – no, not an Everest or anything like that – but some as beautiful as the images you included in your post…and they ARE beautiful until you are climbing them. While you are climbing them they are miserable and hateful things – and you ask yourself a lot what you were thinking when you pitted yourself against them (and all of nature which seems to have ganged up on you at that moment!)…

    But then you summit – and you look back down….

    And at that moment you realize that the climb really WAS worth it…

    And that all of nature was simply testing you to be certain that you were worthy of what you were now experiencing…

    And then you KNOW that the only thing more beautiful than the view of the mountain from the village was the view of the world from the summit…

    And you know God in all of His Glory because you can see so much of His creation…

    And finally you know the Truth of the statement – "Nothing is impossible, the impossible simply takes a little longer".

    Hugs – and thanks for this one –

    aus and co.

  17. Linny–I seldom miss a day checking in on the gang at Simplicity but I missed yesterday because I was canning peas all day (love my garden!). When I got up this morning I came out to see what you'd posted today and saw the post about little Ruby. I will pray for her for sure. She is such a precious girl. Then I scrolled down to see what I missed yesterday. I needed to hear those words so badly. I am not just facing a mountain right now–I've got a whole mountain range to deal with. I won't bore you with the details. I just ask that you please pray for me that I will trust God in these days….and thanks for reassuring me that He knows and cares. Love you, Sister.

  18. I have followed your blog for quite some time now and I really needed to read this today. My 13 year old daughter is facing a possibly scary diagnosis on August 14 and I have been so scared. Thank you for this beautiful post.

  19. I stumbled upon your blog this morning… I believe in providence and I believe God brought me here to encourage me today. We are in the process of adopting a little 5 yr old boy from China that China declared inoperable. The fact that he is alive is an absolute miracle. I've been discouraged for the last few weeks because the remaining financial hurdles seem insurmountable. In addition to all the travel expenses and in-country fees we still have remaining, we also found out that the orphanage "donation" (usually about $5600 but closer to $6k right now with the exchange rate) which we thought was going to be covered by a grant is not an option… not sure why… but now we have to come up with it when we weren't expecting to. Our dream of taking the 3 of our kids who still live at home with us to China has fallen by the wayside as we try to just come up with the absolute necessities for bringing Benjamin home. I needed your reminder this morning. Sometimes it's so hard to see past the current circumstances and remember that it is all for our good and His glory.
    http://www.BaldwinBulletin.net

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>