Tag Archive for: Mark 9:23

Impossible Doesn’t Scare God

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Mark 9:23 — “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

Have you ever looked at the odds and thought, “Well… there’s no way this ends well?”

Maybe somebody has already told you what you can’t do. Or maybe life backed you into a corner so tight you can’t see a way out.

Wilma Rudolph knew a little something about impossible too. When she was a little girl, she battled scarlet fever, pneumonia, and polio. Doctors told her she might never walk normally again, but her mother refused to let that diagnosis become her daughter’s destiny.

She told Wilma, “You will walk,” and do you know what? She did. Not only did Wilma walk, she ran. In 1960, she stepped onto the Olympic track in Rome and won three gold medals in track and field. She became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

Just think about that.

The little girl doctors said might never walk grew up to run faster than almost anybody in the world. Sometimes the people who can see your limitations most clearly still cannot see the future God has in His hands, and maybe you needed to hear that today.

Because your obstacles might be real. Your circumstances may be difficult. You may have a problem in front of you with no obvious way around it, but faith doesn’t mean pretending the mountain isn’t there. It means remembering who is bigger than the mountain.

In Mark 9, a desperate father came to Jesus carrying a problem he could not fix himself. His faith was trembling. His circumstances looked hopeless. When the father said, “If you can do anything,” Jesus challenged the “if.” And the father gave one of the most honest responses in the Bible: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”

Faith doesn’t require you to pretend you’re not afraid. You can believe and still need help believing.

Maybe that’s where you are today. You believe God can make a way, but you’re still scared. You trust Him, but you still have questions. You’re praying, but part of you is wondering how this could possibly work out.

That doesn’t mean you have no faith. It means you’re human—and you can bring even that uncertainty to Jesus.

We don’t know how every story will turn out, but impossible has never been a word that scares Him. So, if you’re staring at something today that feels too big, too broken, or too far gone, take heart.

You may be looking at the end of what you can do, but Jesus may be looking at the beginning of what only He can do. And goodness knows, sometimes that’s where the best stories begin.

 

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

  • What situation in your life currently feels impossible? Have you been looking more at the size of the problem than at the power of God?
  • Have you ever allowed someone else’s expectations or limitations to become your own? What would it look like to trust God with your future instead?
  • The father in Mark 9 had faith, but he also admitted his unbelief. Is there an area where you need to honestly tell Jesus, “I believe; help me overcome my unbelief?”
  • What is one obstacle you need to stop viewing as the end of the story?
  • Faith doesn’t mean pretending the mountain isn’t there. What does it look like for you to acknowledge the mountain while still trusting God?
  • Where are you tempted to focus on what you can’t do? How might your perspective change if you focused instead on what God can do?
  • What are you asking God to do that feels too big, too broken, or too far gone? Take a moment to bring that request honestly to Him.
  • What would it look like to take one step of faith today—even before you know how the story will end?
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When Dreams Feel Too Big

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Mark 9:23 — “What do you mean, If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

So I’m sitting with a notebook open—blank pages staring back—trying to make sense of a future that suddenly feels unknown.

I know change is coming. I can feel it in my bones. But if you ask me what the next step is, I’ll probably just shrug and take another sip of coffee. Though I’m not leaving radio or TV, God has been nudging me toward something new.

Something that smells like butter and sugar and feels like home.

A bakery. Cookie decorating. Teaching classes. All things food.

Which makes sense if you know me. Around here in Louisiana, food isn’t just fuel—it’s family. It’s how we celebrate, how we grieve, how we show love without having to get all emotional about it. Feeding people is stitched into our DNA, and somewhere along the way, God stitched it into mine too.

The trouble is, once I say the dream out loud, reality sets in.

I don’t have the money yet or the place. I don’t even have a business plan written in this notebook yet. And fear is really quick to point that out. Fear wants receipts. It wants proof. It wants a color-coded plan and a safety net underneath.

But then there’s this verse that won’t leave me alone. Mark 9:23: “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Now, it doesn’t say everything is easy. Not everything is instant. But it is possible.

That word settles something in me.

Faith, I’m learning, doesn’t wait until the whole map is laid out on the table. Faith takes the next step with what it’s got and trusts God with what it doesn’t. If He’s the One who planted this dream, then He’s not confused about the details. He is already working in places I can’t see yet.

So, I start small.

I pray. I scribble ideas in the margins. I jot down class names and cookie designs and half-baked thoughts that might turn into something later.

And wouldn’t you know it—my confidence starts to grow. It grows because I’m choosing to believe that the same God who gave the dream is willing to walk me through the process. One step. One yes. One open notebook at a time.

Maybe you’ve got a page like this too. A dream that feels unfinished. Too big. Too unclear.

If so, maybe today isn’t about having all the answers. Maybe it’s just about taking the next small step and trusting that everything is possible when God is the One doing the nudging.

You don’t need the whole plan. You just need to believe enough to move.

 

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

  • Is there a dream or idea God has been nudging you toward that you’ve been afraid to name out loud?
  • What fears show up when you think about taking the next step?
  • What does “starting small” look like for you right now?
  • How might belief grow if you took action before having all the answers?
  • What would it look like to trust that God is already working in places you can’t see yet?
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