The Key Ingredient

"Jesus looked at them and said..."with God all things are possible" Matt. 19:26.

Now for a boring grammar lesson. We all should know (unless we slept through English class) what with means. With is: to be accompanied by, to be in association with, to have or to possess. Simply stated it is someone/something PLUS someone/something.

Most expositions I've heard on Matt. 19:26 follow this general track. Men are hopeless basket cases, unable to accomplish anything redeemable on their own. However, with God, and by that what is meant is God all by His lonesome, all things are possible. The problem with that understanding is the pesky four letter word with.

According to Jesus, God doesn't do the possible all by Himself. He's not the ultimate spiritual Lone Ranger arriving on scene atop his faithful charger Silver. Who then does He work in tandem with? God has His Tonto. In case you didn't realize it Paleface, Tonto is us!

Not off floating on a cloud somewhere in heaven listening to harp music God, Who is the Key Ingredient, resides in every believer. There's only one way for Him to get from Point A to Point B. We take Him there. All He performs is done through His people who make up the Body of Christ.

God does everything through you and me. What we deem impossible may sound intimidating, even daunting.  That's true if we take into account only our abilities and strengths, and not God's. He is already aware of our capabilities, and just calmly waits for us to finally "be still and know that I am God."

Possibilities are co-operative ventures; 100% God and 100% man. Perhaps the reason we don't see these happen as much as we'd like to is that we've removed ourselves from the equation. Doing so never produces the correct answer because we've left God with no one to work through. Sans a willing partner, God takes to the sidelines and waits patiently.

It's time to remove the false mindset that we can ever be separated from God and His love. Christ is in us right now, and vice versa. We're inseparable. Scripture attempts to repeatedly hammer this truth into our thick little skulls. However, when wrapped in feelings of inadequacy and failure our minds are renewed, but with the wrong information. We wind up living in an altered reality that God never designed for us.

How about you? Based on your strengths, abilities and resources what possibilities (not to mention impossibilities) seem unattainable? Which would you prefer: 1) God shows up and single-handedly makes things happen, 2) you and God work together to perform things you never imagined you could do? Which do you think He'll opt for? Next time you quote Matt. 19:26 are you willing to keep yourself in the equation? With Christ in and working through you, can you ever really fail?