An ordinary woman with an extraordinary story

Ponderings

Nothing is Impossible for God

January 14, 2017

I’ve had some amazing conversations lately.  I’m working on writing my autobiography.  As I talk to people who have impacted my life, or have walked with me through our shared circumstances, memories of what God has done have overwhelmed me.  Truly, nothing is impossible for God.

One of those memories is of a man who was in dire need of a safe place to live.  His home was simply falling down around him.  Adult Protective Services (APS) was going to have to remove him for his own safety, but they didn’t want to do so.  He had lived there since childhood and he didn’t want to leave.  He was 82, and his family blood line indicated he could easily live another 10 years, at least.  There were at least two people in the APS who began to pray for help to come.

J. L., my husband, found out about the situation and took the problem to the Lord and to our church. In a bold move, that really made no logical sense, our church volunteered to fix the man’s house. It felt like God wanted us to do something, so we did.  We didn’t have the money, and we didn’t have all the skills we needed either.  But God began to move mountains to provide for us.

Those who had been praying were amazed.  I talked with one of them this week.  She said, “…..for the first time in my life I knew that nothing was impossible with God.  Oh I know I knew it, but to know it to the core of my being was the most humbling experience I have ever witnessed.”

It is an amazing thing to watch God work on someone’s behalf simply because we ask.

And then my husband suddenly died.  He was the pastor of our little church, and maybe some thought it would stop the project entirely.  It didn’t.  Instead, the project gave us purpose, something to do for the Lord with our grief.  God had prepared the way ahead of us.

When we saw that there was even more damage than we first realized, we decided to simply rebuild the entire house.  It truly was a miracle.  God brought together all of the money, and all of the expertise needed to see the house built.  Why?  Because God so loves the world…..He made a way for an older man who needed a home, and He made a way for a church to have focus and vision in the face of loss.

Cake for Mr. Woods
Mr. Woods still lives in his little house, now nearly 12 years later.

Nothing is impossible for God.

Now it’s your turn.  When did YOU realized for the first time that nothing is impossible for God?  Tell us your story by commenting below, (or on my blog at www.lorajones.org.)


Comments

I learned it from you. I have never met a stronger woman of faith than you. When most would have given up you took the plans God laid on J’s and your heart and raised a home.

I certainly didn’t do it alone Barbara. A lot of us pulled together, prayed together and worked together to see this project done. But most of all, it was the power of God that did it. My little bit of faith was matched by other’s little bits of faith, and God overwhelmingly responded. Nothing is impossible for God! What a privilege it is to serve Him!

What an amazing outcome to a tragic situation. I remember telling J. that he was nuts (I may have been more descriptive than that) but if you feel like that is what God is saying, I am in. I have thought of us building that house many times over the years. I tend to internalize these monumental events. Not only was the house falling down around the gentleman, but we felt like the world was falling down around us. Amazing how God blessed during that time. Really, it wasn’t only about the house, it was about obedience. Through obedience we found peace.

The car I was driving was in bad need of repair. I often joked that it would be easier to tell you what wasn’t wrong with than was. A gentleman from my church had been working on it for a while, and every week at church, my wife and I would ask the man how it was coming. He normally would only reply, “It’s going to be okay.” One Sunday after service, the pastor pulled my wife and I into the church office along with my friend. My wife and I thought we were in trouble. We both thought it was like going to the principal’s office. Little did we know that our main campus in Colorado had had a car donated to it that was then given to me. I knew the pastor and my friend had my best interest in mind. They had done many things for me in the past, but I had no idea the extent to which they would go to help me. The only thing I had to pay for was to have the car inspected and get the title and tag transferred into my name. I didn’t have to pay for the tag necessarily. I just had to have the tag from the other car transferred to the new one and the tag removed from the old one and put on the new one. I always knew nothing was impossible with God, but as you stated in the blog, when you experience that knowledge first hand, you begin to truly understand how true that statement really is.

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