Have you ever noticed how noisy impossibilities are? They insistently push into our thoughts as they loom in front of us. The moment they intrude, we can block them through the truth of God’s word and His promises. 

I love to think about Mary after the angel Gabriel spoke to her, about how she would conceive in her womb, and bring for a Son whose name would be Jesus. He followed it with an amazing promise that we can also stand in.

Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” Her immediate response was in verse 38. It is a verse I have written in the front of my Bible. It says, “…Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word…”

Here is a new song called Nothing Is Impossible

You can move the mountains. You can calm the sea. You can split the skies and rescue me. Nothing is impossible, no nothing at all. You created everything before man’s fall. Though it seems impossible to me. I must remember Who You are as my Savior and King.

You rule in my heart through Your word supreme. I just have to believe-trust for You will faithful be. Nothing is too hard for You, no nothing at all. You delight to strengthen me through trials that reveal Yourself to me.

Your character is forged in me. Your anvil strong and true. You bring me through the fiery trials—my faith refined-secured. Your will is accomplished as I yield to Your hand. My thoughts are united with Your purpose and plans. As I walk in the path You choose You establish my heart. I serve You with thanksgiving and praise. You alone are worthy, O my Lord.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We cannot look at our impossibility through the eyes of ‘now’ faith. We see it. We have to look to the Lord.

1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now do you do see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” What happened when the children of Israel looked at their Red Sea impossibility? They were overwhelmed and fearful.

When we look through the eyes of our understanding of Who God is at all times, we can stand unshaken in our faith because our faith is founded in His faithfulness.

Here are two great verses to etch into your heart’s walls. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” We know from Titus 1:2 that it is impossible for God to lie. 

2 Peter 1:4 says that we become partakers of God’s divine. How? The verse says, “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises…” When we stand in His word, keeping our eyes on the Lord, the looming impossibility fades into the background. It is still there but it has been silenced.

How do you face off the impossibilities that loom before you? Scripture is full of accounts where God had to intervene or His people would perish. Our part is to stand in faith ~ believing in God. Mark 11:22 says, “…Have faith in God.” We cannot have faith in His past ways of delivering. He will not fit into any box. 

Psalm 78:41 is a warning verse for us. It says, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” One of the ways we ‘tempt’ God is to expect Him to act a certain way. I think back to the children of Israel when they faced the impossibility of the Jordan River. Scripture says that it overflowed its banks. It was impossible to cross.

How did the Lord speak to that issue? Joshua 3:4 says of the ark which would lead them, “…Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” Every impossibility that we face is uncharted territory. We have never been there before. Only the Lord knows the way so we have to keep Him in our sight at all times.

King Jehoshaphat faced an impossibility. 2 Chronicles 20:1-22 is a great record of God’s marvelous deliverance that was never again repeated in Scripture. In verse 12 Jehoshaphat said, “…we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” Psalm 121:1-2 says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills–from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

What happened when the children of Israel faced the impossible Red Sea? They were afraid. Why? There was no way to get across, and Pharaoh and his entire army were bearing down on them. Exodus 14:10 says that they, “…lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them…” Verse 13 was Moses’ instruction. He said, “…Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.”

When we face our impossibilities, we must remember that it is not our responsibility to solve them. Our responsibility is to stand still. Verse 14 is our truth as well. It says, “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” The literal meaning for ‘hold’ is to be quiet. It means that we are not to try and figure out how the Lord is going to do something, nor are we to pursue doing something on our own. Going ahead of God is foolish as well as futile.

We limit the Lord when we try to figure anything out. We also limit Him when we look back to a previous deliverance and expect Him to act in the same way. The Lord always looks for faith because that is what pleases Him, according to Hebrews 11:6. Our Creator has no lack. He can create whatever we need. He will Masterfully orchestrate every minute detail.

Isaiah 43:18 says, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.” Consider means to ponder and think about. We are not to roll them around in our mind. We need to clear the slate and watch to see what the Lord will do. Verse 19 in the Amplified says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” The Lord will make a way where there seems to be no way. That is why we need to face off our impossibility with faith in Him and Him alone.

Matthew 11:28 Amplified says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. (I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.)” What a promise!

Psalm 23:2-3 could easily describe our quiet time in being still before the Lord. It says, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

Many times David was overwhelmed by the circumstances in his life. Think of what it was like for him to flee the city when Absalom attempts to usurp his father’s throne. 

Psalm 61:1-2 was a great expression of his heart as he cried out to the Lord. It says, “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

Here is a new song:

Song of the Altar

In the midst of adversity when trouble surrounds me. I come into Your presence and I build an altar. I remember how You met me time and time again and I bow in worship.

Nothing can overtake me when I hide in You. Nothing can overwhelm me when I look to You. I set my eyes on You and I gaze into Your face. I bask in the love of Your eyes full of grace.

No one can comfort me like You O Lord. I will make Your presence my abiding place as I hide in You from the tempest of this storm. Yes I’ll hide in You as I bow and worship at Your feet.

I sing this frequently because it helps me remember what to do when I feel overwhelmed. My stance is to look to Him. Here is another part of Psalm 18. I experienced this when I had a hard trial.

Verse 16 says, “He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of deep waters.” Verse 18 says, “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.”

How does the Lord support us? He speaks His whispered words to our heart. He knows exactly what we need. We can hear Him above the turmoil of our life circumstances when we become still inside.

I love the words in Psalm 18:1-2 that express his heart in the midst of turmoil as Saul hunted him to kill him. It says, “I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

John 14:1 says, “Let not your heart be troubled…” The Greek word for troubled is to stir or agitate. We are not the product of our circumstances, but the way we process them reveals what our heart clings to. If we cling to anyone or anything other than the Lord, then it has become a heart idol that dictates. Ask this question: what rules my heart? What rules our heart takes our focus off the Lord.

Think of a barnacle. What are you not able to let go of? What can’t be pried off your heart? Whatever it is, it keeps you from being able to be still. It pushes into your thought process because it has become a heart idol. In Ezekiel 14:1-7 the Lord clearly defined a heart idol.

King Solomon said it in another way. In 1 Kings 8:38 he said, “…when each one knows the plague of his own heart…” The Hebrew word for plague is disease. Let me spell it dis-ease. What keeps your heart disrupted?

1 Chronicles 28:9 Amplified says, “…For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts. If you seek Him (inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him as your first and vital necessity) you will find Him…”

Every thought, even the futile dialogues that circle around without fulfillment, are intimately known by the Lord. Hebrews 4:13 Amplified says, “…all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”

Here is a new song: Place Of Stillness

I come into the place of stillness to find my rest in You. Removing every weight of care I bow in adoration. I set my gaze on You. I behold You beholding me. O the wonder of such love, redeeming love for eternity.

You draw me to Yourself to whisper words of hope. You fill me with Your fullness, until Your glory fills my soul. My heart is Yours. I sing and dance before You. No cares from this earth intrude, in my worship of You Who is worthy.  

Be glorified. Be high and lifted up as I sing the victorious song of faith. Thank You for including me, when You died on Calvary. You forgave my sins, past, present, and future, to bring me to Yourself in intimacy.

Releasing

Everything

Simply

Trusting

Rest, according to Hebrews 4:10, is ceasing from our own labor. Remember Jesus’ words to His disciples? Great words for us also. Matthews 11:28 says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Resting in His Presence is the greatest reset for our spiritual, physical, and emotional health. Resting is ceasing to figure things out, to do something in our own strength, and also stopping our futile mental dialogues.

Let our rest be like barnacle faith. Let nothing distract or pry us away from our pursuit of intimate communion with the Lord. A great book to read is by A. W. Tozer called Pursuit Of God. It changed my life back in the early 70’s.

Heart idols are flesh servers. We want what we want and woe to the one who gets in our way. Fleshly reactions are ugly. James 3:10 is about our tongue. It says, “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

Here is a key: if you react rather than respond then it is likely because someone or something stirred up your hidden flesh. Our fleshly reactions are a poor testimony of the One who lives within us.

Remember that every word is first a thought. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Colossians 3:12 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.” Did you notice that kindness and longsuffering is the fruit of the Spirit? This verse is helping us to understand that when we are submitted to the Holy Spirit there will be no fleshly reactions that we regret.

We practice yielding our way by spending time with the Lord in silence. In the stillness, we learn to listen for His whispered words. Job 26:14 says, “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!…”

What did Job recount that caused him to use mere edges of His ways? Verses 7-13 are marvelous verses with such illustrative terminology. I love verse 7. It says, “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.” Only the Lord.

Let’s read Isaiah 40:12. It says, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?”

We often come before the Lord with a full agenda. Yet, if we would take a few moments to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10) it would quiet our heart through awe.

Here is something that really helped me when I was first learning to be quiet before the Lord. I kept a little note pad. When any kind of thought intruded I would write it down. Done. That way it didn’t keep circling in my mind. 

Here is verse three from a new song: Don’t let the cares of this life choke out My words. Open your heart to hear the beat of My own heart. I desire oneness with you but I won’t compete with that to which you give yourself. I will but wait until you tire of your own pursuits.  And nestle down in My love.

I remember we had blackboards in school. Our teacher would write on them, and then clear the slate with an eraser. That is what we need to do in order to be still before the Lord.

Every artist begins a new creation with a clean canvas. We are created in the image of God who can’t be defined in human terms. When we accept Jesus as our Savior we are new creations.

2 Corinthians 5:16 says that we are not to regard others according to the flesh. Verse 17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Salvation cleared the slate. 2 Peter 1:9 says that we often forget that we were cleansed of our old sins. Micah 7:19 says, “…You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” 

In Isaiah 38:17, Hezekiah said, “…You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast my sins behind Your back.” Does that remind you of David’s words in Psalm 40:2-3?

He said, “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

The above verses attest to the truth that we have been set free from the slave block of sin. Why then do we have inner conflicts within our hearts, and relational conflicts?

James 4:1 says, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” Verse 3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Have you ever considered that you might be working from an already filled canvas? That is what happens when we bring our past into our present. Our past is passed. It is impossible to go back in time. The only way we can do it is through our thoughts.

No wonder it is hard to be still before the Lord. We have waring factors hidden in our heart. The Lord is our King. He wants to be the Ruler over our heart. Yet when something else rules, it pushes Him out of the center.

Exodus 20:3 says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” True, we don’t have physical idols set up that we bow down to. What about heart idols that usurp His place? What do they look like? We will look into that tomorrow.

Hebrew 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” It is God’s will for us to wait for Him. We disobey when we step out on our own, which is acting independently of God. 

There is a note in my Bible about the Greek word for endurance: it describes the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.

Weariness in waiting can happen when we constantly dialogue about what we are waiting for. It causes emotional fatigue. It’s futile. Waiting is a good work that the Lord is accomplishing on our behalf.

Endurance is a grace gift because without His empowerment we would not be able to wait. 2 Samuel 5:24 is one of my waiting verses. I love to think about the whole scene. David was in two circumstances that were identical. Yet as he faced each one he stopped and asked the Lord what to do. The first time the Lord told him to pursue. The second time He told him to wait.

In verse 23 the Lord instructed him, “…circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.” Verse 24 says, “…when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly…”

What do you think was going through David’s mind and the mind of his army? I can just imagine the scene. Their ears had to be tuned to hear. They had never heard the sound they were listening for. It took absolute quiet, attentiveness, and alertness.

So it is with us. The Lord often speaks in a whisper in the moment. If our mind is occupied with the noise of futile thoughts we will miss what He is directing us to do. Think of His whisper like a paga. He intercepts our thought process to impart His direction in the moment.

Paga is a Hebrew word that means to meet, light upon, join, or encounter. I like to think of it as a butterfly landing on my shoulder. It is like a wisp of a thought. Have you ever been doing something and suddenly someone’s name comes to your mind? That is a paga. The Lord just intercepted your mind to call you to pray for them.

We are called to endure. Whatever He calls us to do, He is right there ready to empower us. We cannot endure through our own strength. Grace is imparted in the moment of our need when our hearts are humble. What a reason to maintain a humble heart because we are always in need. John 15:5 says that apart from Him we can do nothing.

Simeon waited. Luke 2:25 says, “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”

What was the promise he was waiting for? Verse 26 says, “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the temple. Simeon took Him in his arms. Verse 29 says, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word.”

The disciples waited. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven He gave them instructions. Luke 24:49 says, “Behold, I sent the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Acts 1:12 says that they returned to Jerusalem. While they waited they spent the time in prayer and supplication. What was the result of their waiting? Acts 2:1 says, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” 

They were to wait until they were endued with power from the Holy Spirit. Verse 4 says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” Acts 2 is a great chapter. The result of their waiting recorded the beginning of the church. 

Acts 2:41 says, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Ephesians 1:23 says, of the church, “Which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Waiting requires focus on the Lord. Our flesh loves to look at our circumstances or others. Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.”

Facing an impossibility in our own strength will weaken our faith. Abraham did not even consider his body or the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Consider means to ponder and think about. The moment we dialogue about our impossibility, we enter into the futile activity of worry.

Waiting requires faith. Romans 8:25 says, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Waiting is the precursor to endurance. Waiting is a trial that the Lord uses to develop our character so that we can reflect His character to others.

The Lord has a specific intention in our waiting. Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you…” The Hebrews word for gracious means to show favor. The verse continued, “…and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you…” The Hebrew word for mercy means to love deeply, be compassionate, and have tender affection. Here is the rest of the verse…For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

What is the purpose of God’s discipline? It is to train, to bring course correction, and to conform us to His image. According to Hebrews 12:11 there is an end intended. It says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

If discipline does not reach the heart, there will be no fruit that glorifies the Lord. Waiting is a form of discipline. Trials reveal hidden dross. What dross is exposed when we are waiting? The first thing I think of is impatience.

James 1:3 says of our various trials, “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” How is the ‘gold’ of our faith tested? It goes through the fire of purification. 1 Peter 1:7 says that it is tested for its genuineness. It reminds me of David’s words in Psalm 26:2. It says, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.”

How is your conscience? 2 Corinthians 4:2 says, “…by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul wrote to his son in the faith to have a good conscience. 1 Timothy 1:5, and 3:9. 4:2 says that our conscience can become seared.

I love Paul’s testimony. May it be true of everyone who names the name of Christ. Acts 24:16 says, “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”

When our conscience is guilty or seared, we will be insensitive to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever started to do something, but you stop because you sensed that the Holy Spirit has spoken to your heart? He checked you before you could act. What we do next is a choice.

The enemy of our soul uses our waiting time to bring in distractions. They all are targeting our hidden flesh. His aim is to get us to depart from the Lord’s way. We need to be ready for the onslaught so we are not caught off guard.

God is using our waiting to purify our faith by exposing, and satan is using it to destroy our faith. His insistent jabs of ‘do it now’ type thoughts are designed to get us to react in our flesh.

Let’s use our frustration with others or our circumstances as God’s signal to humble our heart. Our hidden flesh rises because it wants its way. God’s grace is essential in every moment in our lives. We cannot exemplify Him in our flesh.

Here are some of my key verses while I wait. I use them to fortify my thoughts and help me stay in focus. 2 Samuel 5:18-24, 2 Chronicles 20:12, Psalm 37:7, Isaiah 30:18, Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 62:1, 5, Lamentations 3:25-26, Psalms 27:14. 

Isaiah 64:4 says that God acts for those who wait for Him. I just read this one yesterday. Micah 7:7 says, “Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” 

Abraham has always been a great example for me. I frequently turn to Romans 4. I love the wording that Paul used to describe Abraham’s stance. We know, from the Old Testament account, that his wife devised a plan to help God out.

Genesis 16:2 says, “So Sarai said to Abram, See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her. And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.”

The whole world continues to experience the consequences of her scheming. What consequences are you living in because you went ahead of God? Galatians 6:8 says, “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption…”

I want to focus on Abraham’s faith. Romans 4:17 says, “(as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.”

Verse 19 says, “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” Let me recap verse 17: Our Creator God gives life to the dead.

Time was not an obstacle for the Lord for them nor is it for us. He exists outside of time. 2 Peter 3:8 says, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Psalm 31:15 says, “My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them who persecute me.” David’s prayer is a good one for us to adopt ~ especially as we wait.

The enemy of our soul is pushy. He will try to get us to act independently of God. He will bombard us with thoughts that can only be stopped through faith. Ephesians 6:16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

Romans 4:20 says, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief…” Wavering, according to James 1:6-8, causes us to be unstable. Our stability comes through standing in truth which fortifies our heart to stand in absolute trust.

God’s timing is impeccable! It is never altered by man in any way shape or form. God’s word is eternal and settled. 1 Peter 1:25 says, “But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

What happened with Saul’s thought process that caused him to lose his kingdom? 1 Samuel 13:8 says that he waited seven days. Samuel didn’t show up when Saul expected. He took matters into his own hands. Verse 10 says that as soon as he carried out his own plan Samuel showed up. Verse 14 was the edict that his kingdom was done.

The thoughts of ‘do it now’ will come. We need to be ready to stand. Ephesians 6:13 says, “…having done all, to stand.”  We stand in the grace that has been given to us through our salvation. We wait in humility, knowing that we cannot move forward without the Lord.