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A Prayer for Trusting Jesus with the Impossible

But he [Jesus] said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18:27

Dear Lord Jesus, you offered these words of hope to disciples trying to picture a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle. You speak the same words to me in light of many situations for which I need to accept my limitations and lay hold of your sufficiency. Free me to do what I can do, and trust you to do the 99% left on the table.

I’m thankful to begin this day remembering your commitment is to make all things new (Rev. 21:1-6), not to make all new things; there’s an enormous difference between the two. It’s not “all gonna burn”; it’s all gonna be made new—purified, not annihilated.  Hallelujah, many times over!

Indeed, Jesus, you’ve placed us in a story of restoration, not replacement—renewal, not re-do. And you’re are actively at work in the broken places and among broken people, including a broken me. Things are not as they appear to our natural eye. Your resurrection is the guarantee that, one Day, this very world will be gloriously transformed into the new heaven and new earth; and it’ll be inhabited by your glorified pan-national Bride, including a glorified me! This is incredibly good news—the best news ever. Nothing is impossible with you. I praise you today, and every day, for this living hope—a true anchor for our souls and music for our hearts.

The hard news is that I have to accept that many things are impossible for me. My best intentions, efforts, and resources are simply not enough. I see this in my heart, relationships, and this aging body. This requires a humility and faith the gospel alone can provide. Grant me both, Jesus; grant me both.

I cannot change me, so why do I assume the omnipotence to fix others? As much as I long to see friends freed from addictions, marriages brought back from the brink of death, and stubborn people made gentle and kind, Jesus, you alone have the power to effect these kinds of changes. Free me to accept this, without acquiescing to a spirit of passivity, cynicism, or, que sera, sera. Help me to love people exactly as they are; not as I wish and will them to be…

Maybe the greater challenge will be for you to make me a patient, caring, present friend, Lord Jesus. Please show me the first nose hair of this camel poking through this needle’s tiny eye. Hasten the Day of perfect newness in my heart, and your entire world. So very Amen I pray, in your majestic and merciful name.

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