By ANNIE WESCHE
Ah, Lord, God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.
Jeremiah 32:17
Years ago, when I was finishing up my senior year of high school, our family went through a time of great desperation for God’s provision. Through various circumstances, we lost our home. Boxes were packed and we were quickly approaching the day when we needed to be out — but we still had no idea of where we were actually going to go when that day came. Every night, my parents would gather my brother and I into the living room to pray as a family for God’s provision and guidance. “God has never failed us,” my dad would encourage, “and He never will.”
It was no doubt a stressful, fearful time for my parents, but I watched them continually set their eyes on the One to whom they had given their lives, and who had promised to provide and care for our family. Even with such a heavy burden of future uncertainty, my parents would not waver on the truth of God’s faithfulness and goodness — no matter what we were facing or what they were feeling. And many times, after saying “goodnight,” I could still hear the distant sound of their continued prayers coming from their bedroom late into the night, as they cried out for God to bring us a miracle.
The full and amazing story is for perhaps another time, but I will share with you what God did in answer to our desperate prayers. One day, a man we knew phoned us to say that during his prayer time that morning God had put it on his heart that there was something he could do for our family. Mum was hesitant at first to share the magnitude of our need, but eventually managed to say, “Actually, yes, we need … a house.” She explained our situation and how, in a few short days, we were going to be evicted. His instant, warm reply left us all amazed. “A house?” He said simply, “I have a house you can use.”
That alone would have been a beautiful display of God’s faithfulness. But the story is even more extraordinary — this “house” was actually a million dollar mountain home with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, living rooms, fireplaces, a fully stocked fishing pond, hiking trails, a bonfire pit, and a pool! They currently had the house on the market but this dear man and his wife invited our family to move up and live in the home until it sold. So for seven months, we lived in this incredible provision — an answer from our mighty God in a way that we would have never imagined! And when the time came for us to leave that mountain home, God’s next provision was already in our hands.
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Throughout our lifetimes, dear friend, we will all face things that seem “impossible,” “hopeless,” or “too great” for us to bear. Maybe they are sudden trials we never saw coming, or they are long-endured burdens carried year after year. Perhaps it’s a weighty financial crisis like my family faced, or a stronghold in your life that you just can’t imagine being free from, or a loved one that continues to turn away from Jesus, or a situation that simply has you at a complete loss over what to do. I’ve had to face many challenges and difficult situations since God gave our family that beautiful mountain house miracle. And even now, there are seeming “impossibilities” that try to woo me over to the corner of doubt and anxiety. But our faithful God has given us a way to victory in each trial and challenge — one that enables us to overcome all despair, sadness, fear, doubt, and anxiety! He has given us Himself.
I was freshly struck by this precious and powerful reality as I was driving home one day recently. A dear friend had given me a new CD of old hymns, and as it played softly, a line in one of the familiar, treasured songs landed upon my ears as if for the very first time: Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do… I thought of the heavy things that had been weighing on my heart, and then fixed back on those words — what the ALMIGHTY can do. Not, what I can do or what others can do for the situation, but what GOD can do! My mind began to recall promises in Scripture and past testimonies of God’s wonderful faithfulness and power in answers to prayer. Suddenly the landscape of my burdens and “impossible things” had a new light cast upon them, and fresh hope in the Lord soared in my heart as I drove the country roads towards home.
When our circumstances boast that a breakthrough or victory can’t happen, when the enemy of our soul whispers defeat, or when our hearts begin to grow heavy with the first grey clouds of doubt — that is the very moment we need to move our thoughts off of the heavy and worrisome things and set them upon the One who reigns over all things! The One who sits enthroned in Heaven and rules over everything. The One who holds all things together by the word of His power. The One who spoke the universe into existence, hung the stars, and set the planets in orbit. The One who defeated death. The One who knit you together in your mother’s womb. The One who knows the very hairs on your head. The One who has promised to care for all things that concern you. The One who gave the life of His very own Son to rescue you! (See Psalm 103:19, Hebrews 1:3, Psalm 33:6, 2 Timothy 1:10, Psalm 139:13, Luke 12:7, Psalm 138:8, and Romans 8:32.) Oh, what a wonder it is to be His, dear friend!
How easy it is to forget the marvelous goodness and power of our glorious, Almighty God and what that means for us, as His children! But these very trials in our lives can serve as a beautiful stage for His glory and faithfulness to be seen — for the “impossible” to be overcome by God alone! And not only for our own hearts to increase in that intimate knowledge of Him, but for the watching world around us to behold Almighty God, and hopefully put their trust in Him, too.
If your heart is struggling to see beyond the haze of discouragement and worry, I want to encourage you to open up the Word of God and begin writing out or highlighting the verses mentioned above. Journal about what each one means for you as a daughter of the King. Then begin to seek out additional treasures in His Word that can remind you of who God is, what He has done, what He has promised, and what He has given! In our ever-busy, ever-noisy, ever-distracting world, we must never let the awe of Almighty God leave our hearts and minds. It is in Christ and by faith in Almighty God that we will overcome! And the comfort and hope He will bring is unlike anything else to be found in this world! Ponder anew, what the Almighty can do.
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Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation
O my soul praise Him for He is your help and salvation
All you who hear, now to His temple draw near
Sing now in glad adoration
Praise to the Lord who has fearfully, wonderfully made you
Who from the heavens the streams of His mercy does send you
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
Who with His love does befriend you
Ponder anew, the wings of His mercy will shade you
Ponder anew, His Spirit uplifts and sustains you
Praise to the Lord, oh, let all that is in me adore Him
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before Him
Let the Amen sound from His people again
Gladly forever adore Him
— Praise to the Lord, by Sara Groves
(Adapted from the original Praise to the Lord, the Almighty by Joachim Neander)
+ A wonderful resource I want to recommend to you is the short film HE IS, produced by Bravehearted Christian. It’s a breathtaking, faith-building meditation on every attribute and name of God revealed to us in His Word. I have no doubt it will strengthen and stir in your heart fresh worship, hope, and awe!
Visit www.braveheartedchristian.com/films/he-is