Sunday, December 25, 2011

Taking the “Im” from Impossible

Impossible. That may possibly be the best one-word description of Christmas. Nestled among the jolly, twinkling lights and the bright, multi-colored bows and hidden behind every sale banner is a precious gift often overlooked. A gift that could shout but instead it whispers. The brightest gift packaged in the plainest wrapping.

It is the gift of the impossible.

The Christmas season is a time when what shouldn’t be able to happen does happen, when naysayers are silenced if just for a few moments and crazy, illogical, unrealistic dreams become a glimmering reality.

It’s when family members who live states apart forget the cost of travel and make that long but worthwhile trip to see their loved ones. It’s when a child with nothing receives a toy and a hot meal. It’s when selfishness transforms into selflessness and an angry, bitter world, for once, becomes united in a desire for peace.

It’s impossible … but it happens.

It’s when misers find worth in more than cash, and small-town businessmen realize that they really do make a difference. It’s when a dissatisfied, young boy becomes thankful for his family (no matter how imperfect they are) and a grumpy, green mountain recluse discovers that the heart behind Christmas can never be stolen. (Hey, ya gotta love the classics!)

It’s when a childless woman old enough to be a grandma had a son of her own and a young teenager committed to purity was chosen to bear a supernatural child that had no earthly father.

Wait, what? Think about that for a second. Some things are just not physically possible right? When women get to a certain age, they simply are unable to have children. And with young girls who get pregnant … well, it doesn’t happen without a guy’s help.

But in the words of the angel Gabriel, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

You say, “It can’t be true.” But it is.

You say, “It can’t be done.” But God did it.     

He caused two cousins, one too old and one not old enough (a.k.a. not yet married), to each have a son – one son to announce the coming Messiah and one son to be the coming Messiah. Two sons, one miracle. The Christmas miracle.

And it’s because of that miracle – that impossibility becoming possible – that we are able to hope for the impossible in our own lives each year. We can forgive the unforgivable, love the unlovable, and change the unchangeable. Though life is filled with obstacles that cannot be hurdled, we find that we can leap over them after all.

On our own, we can do nothing. On our own, we have limits. But let’s turn back our eyes to that distant day when a baby who “shouldn’t” have been born was born. A child, who “shouldn’t” have survived, escaped the wrath of a raging king. A God who “shouldn’t” love mankind enough to go through the torture of becoming one of us did go through it.

It was then that He placed His greatest gift under history’s Christmas tree – the gift of the impossible.




Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I am a virgin?”
The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. For this reason the baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. Now Elizabeth, your relative, is also pregnant with a son though she is very old. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. God can do anything!” ~ Luke 1:34-37, New Century Version


1 comment:

  1. I absolutley LOVE this, Amanda! Our Christmas services at church were almost the same exact lesson! It was to remind ourselves to have a "Mary Christmas," by steping out in faith and beliving God can do the impossible. Total confermation! Thank you for sharing this, it's something we need to remind ourselves of, not just at Christmas, but the other 364 days of the year too. :)

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