Student Devotionals
Mark 10:27
God Can Do What We Cannot
Have you ever faced a problem so daunting, that it seemed impossible for you to do anything about it? I can remember facing a lot of challenges that felt impossible to overcome throughout my life. Learning a difficult topic in school, public speaking for the first time, coming up with the finances to go through college, overcoming a sin in my life, or even praying that someone close to me will meet Jesus—all of these are real challenges that we face in life.
Sometimes, these challenges push us to work harder, study harder, and press on. Other times, we doubt ourselves, and we become anxious, or maybe we give up altogether. Oftentimes it really is true that we can’t do these things, and we really might be at a dead end! It’s at these places that we understand our imperfections, that we don’t have it all figured out, that we have ultimately fallen short (Romans 3:23).
It’s in these times of desperation that we especially need to turn to God, recognizing that our shortcomings don’t apply to Him!
Jesus teaches us in Mark 10:17-27 to never put the limitations that we have on to God:
“And as he [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
Here is a man who has been seemingly as close to perfect as you can get. He’s been a good Jew, following all of the commandments. He’s also extremely wealthy. At the time, people thought that if you had a lot of money, it was probably because God was blessing you for being good. On top of that, he was so eager to talk to Jesus and enter into His Kingdom! By today’s standards, he’d be someone who says, “I’m a good guy! I’d like to think I’ll get into Heaven. I haven’t done anything bad in my life.”
The problem is that he wouldn’t choose following Jesus over keeping his wealth. The passage says that Jesus really did love this man, but there is only one thing that matters for anyone to enter the Kingdom: “Are they willing to give up whatever it takes to follow Jesus?”
When Jesus expressed to the disciples how difficult it is for a rich person to follow Him, this blew their minds! To them, this man seemed as close to perfect as anyone can get! So their question makes sense at that point: “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus’ response explains that it is literally impossible for people to save themselves, but it is not impossible for God to save them.
This doesn’t just apply to the wealthy people in the world. We can cling to the promise of Jesus, that “All things are possible with God.” He can soften any person’s heart to follow Him! That person just needs to come to a place of humility, realizing that they are meant for more than trying to do it on their own. It is only Jesus who can save them... if they’re willing to admit that they need His help.
Right now, COVID19 is a devastating time for everyone - some of us more than others. Some families are faced with a lot of big challenges that they’ve never faced before. Many are facing troubling circumstances, and they seem impossible to overcome!
To overcome these impossible situations, we need to do what the rich young ruler did not do. We need to recognize that we can’t do it without God! We have to humbly admit our inability to the Lord, and ask for His help. He will always answer that cry for help, even if His way of helping doesn’t seem best to us in the moment. We can trust that He knows what he’s doing and has things under control—just as he always has throughout history!