“When God is about to do something great, he starts with a difficulty,” wrote Armin Gesswein. “When he is about to do something truly miraculous, he starts with an impossibility.” Of course, with God, there’s no difference between difficulty and an impossibility, as nothing is either difficult or impossible for God.

These statements fit more into our perspective of God much more than they do the reality of God. That is probably because, for us, the bigger the problem, issue, circumstance or situation; the greater God’s solution has to be to overcome it. We would do well to remember that since nothing is impossible for God, whether big or small or anything in-between, it’s all easy for the Eternal Creator.

The implications for replacing our perspectives are huge. When we encounter difficulty, our natural response is to get discouraged, frustrated, overwhelmed, anxious, worried, and/or stressed. That leads us to wine and whining, prescriptions, presumptions and selfish prayer petitions. However, if we can alter our perspective, if we can be more mindful of God’s activity in the world; we should get excited. Why?

Something wonderful is about to happen! God is going to show up where he’s least expected, he’s going to do something that seems improbable, he’s going to make a way where there hasn’t been one before. We should offer all our praise to God because it’s in these very inopportune times of our lives that offer God the perfect opportunity to show us why He is God.

That generally only happens when we respond in faith, with fortitude and authentic wholehearted prayer. To be sure, God’s miraculous work should rarely be taken as a given; we have to ask and believe. And sometimes we have to persist in the asking, knocking and searching. Perhaps for years and years, through long delays and unexpected detours. But God does respond and always answers. Sometimes though, because it isn’t what we want to hear, in the timeframe we want it told or leading in the direction we wanted to go … we miss the message and the movement of God’s spirit.

So be active in your faith, be authentic in your relationship with God, and be attuned to how God is working in your life. Don’t lose hope, for anything is possible with God.

Tim Beck is pastor of Kenbridge United Methodist Church. His email address is revtimbeck@gmail.com.