"With God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37) "Ah Lord God! behold, You have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for You." (Jeremiah 32:17)
Knowing this fact, we may with confidence obey the exhortation: "Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass." (Psalm 37:5)
And yet we often hear men say, "I know I ought to serve the Lord, but it is impossible. I should like to keep the Sabbath, but it is impossible in my circumstances."
Such words come from lack of confidence in God's power to work in us to will and to do His good pleasure, whenever we yield to His will. Or it may be from a secret fear that if we do yield to Him He will bring it to pass.
When the father of the afflicted child cried out in agony to the Lord, "If You can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us," (Mark 9:22,RV)
Jesus exclaimed, "If you can!" (Mark 9:23) to show him that a doubt as to the Lord's power to do whatever He pleased was not to be entertained for a moment, and then added, "all things are possible to him that believes." (Mark 9:23)
Some people take refuge under the rendering of the old version, "If you can believe," and say that it is impossible for them to believe. But that is not true. "God has dealt to every man the measure of faith," (Romans 12:3) by revealing His own faithfulness. No man has ever yet known God to lie, and therefore it is easy to believe Him. His faithfulness is written in the heavens: "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and your faithfulness reaches unto the clouds." (Psalm 36:5)
It was impossible for the children of Israel to cross the Red Sea; but by faith in God they passed through it as on dry land. It was impossible for them to take Jericho; but by faith the walls of Jericho fell. So let those who have difficult duties to perform remember those "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong," (Hebrews 11:33-34) and remember that the same God who worked in them is as powerful today as He ever was.--The Present Truth, June 13, 1895--Original Title: Front Page--Timeline: Nativity-2 (The Annunciation)--Luke 1:37 .