Nothing Will Be Impossible with God

Having grown up in southern California, I hadn’t experienced much of the seasons until I moved to Iowa for seminary. What I’ve noticed since living in the Midwest is the effect the seasons have on us. Right now the leaves look painted (predominantly in reds, oranges, and yellows) and the air is crisply dry. It’s a pretty scene, and yet it gives everyone here a strange feeling. Despite all the beauty, things are dying. Winter, which is long and dark and cold, is coming. We’re entering a time when are spirits are brought low.

What does this change of the seasons and the affect on our mood have to do with the Christian life? Let me explain. During times in which our spirits are low and our moods are decidedly negative, God’s greatest commandments (to love Him above all else and to love our neighbor as ourselves) show themselves to be increasingly impossible for us. This isn’t just limited to winter: our spirits can be brought low by all sorts of things, like poor health or the loss of a job. Regardless of the cause, having a low spirit makes love of God and neighbor into an unbearable burden.

Often the solution to the problem of low spirits involves a tremendous effort to lift ourselves up. There are a number of approaches, some more effective than others: celebrations (Thanksgiving and Christmas are great for this), a few glasses of wine, moving to Florida or Arizona for a few months of the year (think of the “snowbirds”), etc. None of these efforts is a bad thing in itself and some are quite effective at lifting our spirits, though it is worth noting that some can lead to even bigger problems when pursued to excess.

The problem, however, is the erroneous thinking that having high spirits means that we are thereby fulfilling the commands to love God and our neighbor, or that having low spirits means that we are failing in these Christian duties. We must recall that faith, hope, and love abide. In other words, true faith, true hope, and true love do not depend on our moods or feelings. They are duties, and if they are to be fulfilled then they must be fulfilled continuously.

So what does this mean? If love of God and neighbor is our duty to be fulfilled continuously, then do we respond by gritting our teeth and doing it against our will? This, however, is not Christian love any more than the kind of love that loves only when it feels good. Because true love is free, to love God and our neighbor against our will is not love at all. Such love, just like the love that depends on having high spirits, fails to fulfill the command.

True Christian love of God does not depend on things going our way in life. Likewise, true Christian love of neighbor does not depend on our neighbor being lovable. To put both of these statements together: the fulfillment of the two greatest commandments does not depend on whether our spirits are high or low. Rather, true love depends on God’s gift.

Here we must note that God’s Word speaks of love in two ways: as a duty that we must fulfill, and as a gift to be received. Many are aware of the duty; few are willing to hear that love is a gift of the Spirit. (See 1 Corinthians 13, in which love is identified as the greatest gift of the Spirit.)

If love is not first received as a gift, the duty will remain impossible. When our spirits are brought low (here comes winter, my friends), we will notice that our so-called love disappears. Or when we come across someone we dislike, we will notice that our so-called love is limited to the lovable.

Apart from God’s gift, true love remains an impossibility. How, then, do we get this gift? The only way to get this gift is to receive it through faith. Said differently, we receive the gift by surrendering unreservedly to God.

As I said in my previous post, this faith looks much like that of Mary. When told “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,” Mary responds, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Through such faith, the impossible happened: the Virgin conceived and bore a Son. When told “you shall love the Lord your God above all else, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” we can only say, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” And through such faith, the impossible will happen: despite lowliness of spirit we will nevertheless have love.

In summary, to love God above all else and to love one’s neighbor as oneself are impossible tasks, especially when life doesn’t go our way and our spirits are brought low. However, by God’s gift, this impossible love becomes not only a possibility but a reality. It is just as the angel said to Mary: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)