Get to Know the God of the Possible
When was the last time you encountered the God of the possible? Someone once said that a rut is simply a grave with both ends knocked out. Many of us end up in such ruts when we get trapped in old habit patterns and ways of thinking. Then we wonder why our lives seem boring or hopeless.In their book, The Art of Possibility, Rosamund and Benjamine Zander state,
Every problem, everything hindering us from pursuing our dream only appears unsolvable inside a particular frame or point of view. Enlarge the box, or create another frame around the data, and problems vanish, while new opportunities appear.
Most of us have lived with our view of God for so long that we find it hard to enlarge our “God box.”Yet God is the creator of the universe, and He continues to create. He is the God of possibilities and promise. His perspective of our life and the possibilities before us is so much bigger than what we now perceive.So how do we climb out of our box-like grave rut and see the vastness of the possibilities set before us by our living God?
4 tips to get to know the God of the possible
1. Read again the stories of the Bible and the God of the Bible. Note the “ruts” people found themselves in and how new possibilities opened up before them when they focused their eyes on God instead of the sides of their ruts.2. Change your expectations and look for possibilities in places you previously ignored. The Zanders tell the story of four young men who sat by the bedside of their dying father.“The old man, with his last breath, tells them there is a huge treasure buried in the family fields. The sons crowd around him crying, ‘Where, where?’ but it is too late. The day after the funeral and for many days to come, the young men go out with their picks and shovels and turn the soil, digging deeply into the ground from one end of each field to the other. They find nothing and, bitterly disappointed, abandon the search. The next season the farm has its best harvest ever.”3. Replace your negative thinking and self talk with the promises of God found throughout the Bible. Pray those promises back to the God who gave them.4. Commit your dreams and problems to the Lord. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:19-21).What have you discovered about the God of the possible? Share your story in the comments section below.It's been a busy week. I hope you enjoyed this repost from August 2010.
Susan