Impossible Things
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn't produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted. My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father." John 15:1-8 NLT
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 NIV
"Jesus looked at them intently and said, 'Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible." Matthew 19:26 NLT
It is starting to look and feel like spring again here. The sun is out and there is a different smell in the air. The trees are full of blossoms, the breezes have changed, kids are playing outside, and more people are taking advantage of the weather by going for bike rides and walks. Springtime is my favorite season. I love seeing the world change around me. One activity I look forward to is planting my small vegetable garden, followed by the high expectation of what it will yield. Spring brings so much promise to it.
But as I start to dig my hands into the soil to prepare for this new season it brings me back to a section of scripture that talks about a grape vine. Sometimes this section of scripture confuses me. It is full of metaphors that I feel I miss the full meaning behind. But something jumped at me this time in between the vine branches and a fire of unneeded wood. John 15:5 says, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."...'For apart from Christ I can do nothing.' I do know a lot of people who have done a lot of things and didn't have Christ. So what does that statement mean? Beth Moore explained it best when she said, "You can do nothing that you can't do." Meaning it is the "impossible" that I can't do apart from Christ. I can do a lot of things. I very well can accomplish some great things on my own. I can even accomplish some great things for God, and not have God be any part of it. But the impossible. The thing where I need a miracle. The part that is beyond anything that I know these hands, this mind is capable of. That is what I am able to now do, being branched into the vine of Christ. Now the impossible isn't far away. Now Christ says 'With me, you can do that.'
Sometimes it is in this desperation that we are craving God to fulfill the impossible. Sometimes it is in the drive, in the God sized dream, that we want to see God's hand move to make the impossible possible. I have been there. I have wanted both. I have had many moments where I am in need of both. I am again needing God to do something in and through me to show the impossible is again possible. I love this reminder, that I serve a God that is not just able to do things. He is able to do things that are impossible. He is able and continues to blow my mind. But not just that. Here among the spring time He reminds me as I tend to my garden that He is also tending to the garden of my soul. He doesn't just do possible things. He doesn't just do impossible things. He does impossible things through you and through me.
