Nothing is Impossible with God
People who know me today have a hard time accepting the fact that by nature I’m an introvert. But I truly am. I have shared before about my love for reading that I’ve had since a young age, and I would much rather be left alone to read a good book than to be in any social situation.
As a high school senior, I found myself in the awkward situation of being asked to speak to my graduating class as their salutatorian. Not the best thing for an introvert to be asked to do. Having no choice but to speak, I asked my Dad for help and he assisted me in putting together a nice treatise on education, drawing upon material from Samual Johnson. I dutifully practiced my speech over and over and had it timed perfectly at just slightly over five minutes, the time allotted for me. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. As I rose from my chair on stage, approached the podium and looked out over the tens of thousands of people in the audience (actually it was a few hundred people – my graduating class was only 48), my nerves gave way, my knees and hands shook, sweat started pouring from my entire body, and I read my beautiful 5-minute treatise in about 2 minutes flat. Somehow I managed to leave the stage and take my place in the rows of my fellow graduates as we prepared to march across the stage. Afterwards I told my girlfriend, who a couple of years later would become my wife, that I would never, never, never, ever get up and speak in front of a group of people again. Promise made.
Fast forward 11 years. After a marriage, two children, and a life changing move to go to a Bible training school, I found myself on a graduation stage once again. For the second time in my academic career I was second best in my class and was asked to give the salutatorian speech at graduation. This time the preparation was all mine. This time the butterflies were much less, the sweat flowed less freely, the hands and knees didn’t shake as badly and I was able to share with my classmates and the guests in the audience a lesson from Luke chapter 1 about how nothing is impossible with God. It was a much better outcome and I didn’t make any strong declarations to my spouse about how I would never speak to a group of people again. What was the difference? Nothing is impossible when you put God into the equation.
It's true that with God all things are possible. An old man and his wife can have a child. A prisoner can become a ruler. The humble man can become a powerful leader. A shepherd can become king. A virgin can give birth. Ordinary men can become extraordinary. A persecutor can become a proclaimer and turn the world upside down. An introverted young man can be used to share the good news about Jesus. The impossible can become the possible – even for you.
–Phil Miller