Marcus Mecum - Stepping Into the Impossible
Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11. I really did feel this morning when I woke up and began to prepare for today, I do feel like the Lord gave me an assignment for this service, and specifically, for those of you who feel like you’re facing something impossible. You would say in an area of your life, in a situation that you’re facing, that phrase whether you say it to somebody else or not, that phrase comes to mind. Maybe it’s even in your secret times where no one’s around, you would say, «It’s impossible». Maybe it’s an emotional thing that you’re facing, a burden you’re carrying. It could be a family situation, a marital situation. It could even just be spiritual.
Sometimes, God feels like he’s so distant and you wanna serve him, you wanna love him, but you just conclude in your mind something is impossible. But I came with an assignment to push against all of that and I came to say that thing that seems impossible, 'cause that’s what I’m gonna talk about «Stepping into the impossibilities». I wanna be the voice that helps you look at that completely different. I want you to look at what you say is impossible, others say is impossible, and instead of joining the crowd saying, «Retreat. Quit. Back out. Don’t move forward». I want to be the one that says, «You don’t know what you’re capable of. You don’t know the possibilities that exist. And really, you never truly know that until you step into that thing you think is impossible».
So, Hebrews 11 gives us the story of Abraham, the father of our faith, and we’ll begin reading in verse 8. And give me some time because I got several verses to read here. It says, «By faith Abraham, when he was called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, he obeyed and he went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in a Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were both heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city whose foundations, and whose architect, and builder is God. And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful that had promised. And so, from one man, as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars are in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners in a strange earth. People who say such things should be looking for a country not their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return».
They could have turned back. «Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them». Amen. So, the scripture here walks us through the great chapter of faith. It introduces us to people one after another that had heard from God. They spoke with the Lord in some area of their life or another and he would challenge them as God does to go beyond where they had previously been. He was pushing them into a new place. And it’s almost as though God considers it a negative thing when we stay in the same place.
Now, I’m not speaking about being uncommitted. A lot of people would see this as their excuse to be uncommitted. I’m not talking about that you should be committed to your family, your relationships, your church. However, when God speaks about moving from one place to another, he’s really speaking about levels. Overused is that word, is think of it as a phase. That God has you in a phase and the purpose of that phase is to grow and mature you. And then, once you’re done with that phase, or that level, he moves you to a new one and the idea each and every phase or level you go through is God is going to meet you there and challenge you there. It will be, many times, more than you think you can bear. He’ll help you increase your capacity through great levels of pain, great levels of discomfort, because he wants you to grow.
And when you decide to not stay where you’re at, when you decide, «Okay, I’m ready to move into this new phase, to move into this new level,» that decision is what the Bible calls faith. Abraham, the Bible said, had to make a decision, «I can stay where I am, I can stay around the people I have always known, or I can make the decision to leave what I’ve known, leave the relationships that have kept me where I am up to this point, and I can step out into the unknown». And when Abraham does that, faith is activated. And God says, «If you wanna know what faith looks like, instead of just giving you a bland explanation, I’m going to give you a person. I’m gonna give you a man. I’m gonna put some flesh on this idea of faith».
And God said, «So, when you wanna know what faith is like, I want you to go to Abraham,» because he’s the father of our faith, he’s the father of this idea, and watch how God worked in his life. Many times, God will put a dream in your heart. God will put something in you where you know you have to move forward, but in order to get there, you have to move and you have to decide, «I cannot hang on to what I’ve always known up to this point». And when you make that move, it’s what the Bible calls faith. Now, Abraham was not perfect. Abraham made a lot of mistakes. Abraham’s life was filled with failures, but yet, God said, «I want to use Abraham to show you what faith looks like».
The first thing that it says about Abraham is that, «He obeyed and went to a place of inheritance not knowing where he was going». So, the first thing you’ll experience when you step out in faith is you will step into the realm of the unknown. You will step into something you have no previous experience on how to handle what it is that God is asking you to do. I can remember it’s 20 years ago now. Sarah and I got in our car, and we had our two little girls, and we drove into this city, 29 years old. You’ve heard this story, many of you before, with the idea of moving our family to a city that we had never been to before to pastor people we had never met before.
And I can remember the sense of not knowing what was going to happen. I can remember the feeling of the unknown, but I can remember telling Sarah, as we crossed the bridge into northern Kentucky, I can remember saying to her, «You know if we do this, that we’re going to have to make the decision to give this city our life». We believe that when God calls you to a city, one place is not the stepping stone to another place. We believe you have to give your life to that city to see God do something. Because not only is it going to take a lifetime, but really, your life should just be the platform, the foundation for future generations to build on. And so, we said we’re going to show up.
Now, again, we had no idea the challenges that would await us. We had no idea the threats that would exist. We had no idea that there would be times where on the inside we looked at it and said, «It’s impossible,» looked at our abilities, looked at what we were made of, and just concluded, «We don’t have what it takes». I could tell you stories. At some point, right now, I probably can’t. But if I could give you the details of some of the stories, and what the threats were like, and how at time it felt like all hell had ganged up and showed up on our front doorstep. But if I could go back into some of those stories, your hair would stand up on the back of your neck. The fears were extremely real, the loneliness was very real, that, «It was impossible,» was something that I said all the time. «Will we make it? Will we survive? What will it look like? Can we make it»?
The line of people that would have jumped in and said we could not, would go around this building a thousand times. I can still see their faces. I can still hear the phrases. I can still look at the arrogance on their face as they look down and told me what I already knew, and that was, «It’s impossible». But yet, somehow, we stepped into the unknown. We stepped into the impossible. We had no idea we would make it. We had no idea we would survive. We had no idea we would have the opportunities that we have today, but that’s faith.
And so, Abraham had no clue what was ahead of him. He had no idea where he was going, but faith was working. When there’s a chance you can’t make it, when there’s a chance that you’ll fail, when you’re looking at the possibility of failure and it’s not just an option, it’s probably very, very prominent as what will happen, but yet you say, «I’m going for it anyhow,» that is faith. When I go into the unknown, when I say, «I don’t know how I’m going to do it,» when I think, «Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I missed God, maybe I didn’t hear from God,» but yet I go anyhow, that is faith.
Think about how many Christians believe the opposite of that. They believe that God is in their life to make them as comfortable as possible, to make sure that life is as easy as possible, to make sure that everything surrounds them is the elimination of any risk, the elimination of any struggle, «God, if you love me, you’re gonna just make my life comfortable, and plush, and posh. Is that even a word»? I don’t know. But God says, «No, I want to see you step into the impossibilities». The next thing is it says that by faith, Sarah conceived being past the childbearing age and that Abraham was as good as dead. But God said to both of them, «I want you to have a child». They could not have a child. There was no natural reason they should even be talking about it. But I like this second point because it means God wants to do a new thing with an old soul.
What I love about this church is that I could stand up and say, «When you look at the properties God’s given us, it just means God’s not done with us». And we’re not talking about doing a new thing to be a new thing. We’re talking about trusting that God can use an old soul, 'cause really, 7 hills is an old soul. We’re not trying to be new, and fresh, and relevant. We still wanna preach the uncompromising Word of God. We wanna be a church that claps, and shouts, and praises God. We wanna be a church that prays and believes when they pray it move mountains. We wanna be a church that fast because this kind only comes out through prayer and fasting. I don’t care about the new stuff. I just wanna make sure we don’t let go of the old stuff that got us to where we are.
I thank God for his mercy. I thank God for his grace. I thank God for the cross. But I also think every now and then we have to be reminded that there is the old too. The old is the standard. The old is the commandments of God, the law of God. That there is still such thing as right and wrong, good and evil. God, do a new thing but let us keep holding on to what got us to where we are. And so, age, God said, should never be a limit. Your lack is not a limit. Your personal situation is not a limit. Human inadequacy is not a limit. Being as good as dead, Abraham, that’s not a limit.
If it’s impossible in your mind, «This is impossible. I can’t do it». Faith says, «Get up and do it anyhow. I know it’s scary. I know it doesn’t make sense. I know in your mind it feels crazy». It’s called faith. It’s called, «I’m gonna step out into the impossibility». Charles Spurgeon actually says that God delights in the impossibilities. So, if you wanna know what gets God excited, the second that you utter those words, «It’s impossible,» now all of sudden, God’s saying, «You’re right where I want you. You’re right in the place that I’m uniquely qualified to jump in and do what you can’t do».
So, Abraham goes to Sarah and says, «Hey, I wanna have some kids. God’s talked to me about it. I wanna have some kids. Just wondering what you think». And Sarah does what you’re doing, she starts to laugh at Abraham, because Sarah knows Abraham as good as anybody. And she knows Abraham can’t do the things he’s talking about. I’m not trying to be graphic. This is how your Bible helps us understand faith is Abraham is as good as dead.
So, part of the miracle of the story is that the person that’s supposed to support Abraham is mocking him, is laughing at him, is bringing up the realities, the natural limitations. She’s bringing up, «What you’re saying is not only impossible, it’s laughable. It’s laughable that you think you can do the thing. It doesn’t matter if God’s told you, Abraham. There is no way that you can do what you’re talking about». And she is so convinced of it, it is laughable that he’s even bringing it up. Abraham, I love this, says, «You can laugh at me. You can mock me. You can look at me and say everything I believe God’s told me to do is impossible, but faith is going to speak up. And, girl, get in the bedroom. I’m gonna show you who the father of our faith is».
Now, don’t get religious and don’t get mad at me. That’s your Bible. Abraham says, «Laugh if you want. God’s not done with me yet». He’s an old soul but he’s going to do a new thing. You see, this is the point. You can get to this place where you feel so safe and secure, where you feel like even, really, you don’t need God. You don’t need his anointing. And in that place is the most dangerous place to be. So, the safest place you can be, sometimes, is in the impossible because he’s gotta come through there. You don’t have a choice.
Number three, it’s because God wants to know this is the question that faith asks, «Do I please God»? I know he loves me. That’s not the question. The question is, «Do I please him»? Hebrews 11:6, «Without faith it is impossible to please God». I’m not asking, does he love you? I’m asking, do you please him? His love is unconditional. His love is set. His love is secure. His love is unchanging. That is set. But faith requires something. Faith is a decision that you make. It’s a choice you make to move forward into territory that in your mind is impossible. And it’s concluding that I don’t have to take this step.
This is not a heaven or hell issue. This is not, «Does he love me»? Because I already know if I fail, he loves me. If I miss it, he loves me. If I drop the ball, he loves me. If I play it safe my whole life, he loves me. If I never step into the impossible, he loves me. If I never experience the push of faith, he loves me. That’s not the question. The question is, do I please him? And faith looks a whole lot different than love. For example, Simon, I’m sorry, the apostle Paul, he’s preaching in a city. They don’t like what he’s saying. They dragged him outside the city. They’re throwing stones at him. In their mind, he’s gone. They reach down, feel for the pulse. There’s no heartbeat. They leave the great apostle Paul dead on the side of the road.
Somehow or another, God jumps starts his heart again, breath comes back, eyes pop open, pulls himself to his feet, body beaten, face bloodied and broken. And God says to Paul, «I want you to go back to the same city and preach to the same people that just tried to kill you». Now, if all he’s focused on is does God love him he would probably conclude something like this. «God loves me. He would never want me to go back into that. He would never want me to face that kind of sacrifice. He would never want me to lean into that kind of pain». Because he was a man like you and I are and there is no way he just, you know, skipped back into the face of death. He had every reason to pull back. But the question isn’t, does God love him? The question is, what’s God asking him to do?
And faith said, «Broken, and bloody, and hurting, and scared, and afraid, I want you to go step back into the impossible». And revival broke out in that city not because he was playing it safe. Revival broke out because he was willing to step into the impossibility. And so, I know he loves us. That’s been settled when you look at Calvary and you look at the cross, but the question that I need to ask is, do I please him? And I please him when I step into the impossibility. The next question is, number three, is what if I fail? When you cross the line, you’re going to hear a lot of people jump in and say, «It’s not going to work. Be careful. You’re going too far. Others have tried this and failed. Your motives are wrong».
But there’s nothing wrong with saying, «God, as much as I know this is what you’re calling me to do and I’m gonna step out,» you say, «Well, what if I fail»? Well, Simon Peter stepped out on the water. Everyone said, «You’re probably not qualified to do what it is that you’re trying to do». And you know what he did? He got on the water, and he started to sink. And Jesus didn’t turn his back on him. Jesus didn’t say, «How dare you try to get out of the water? Who do you think that you are»? No, Jesus reaches his hand down. Jesus never one time said, «Simon Peter, you tried, and you failed. You dirty dog, who do you think that you are? What kinda…» no, he just lifts him up.
And the same way with us when we step out in faith the possibility is that we fail, but the biggest mistake you can make is not to try. And learning faith is learning there are times when I will fail. I cannot tell you how many times my faith has failed. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been in a place where I’ve thought to myself, I am the worst pastor on the planet, I’ve missed it, I’ve messed up. But every single time, I found that I can trust God, every single time I found that God’s faithful even in the midst of my failures. And there are even times like this where i, in my personal time, I’ve told God, «I don’t wanna push through into this next thing».
I think it’s crazy. I think it’s ridiculous. I think there’s too much pressure. And I’m afraid that I’m gonna mess things up. And I’m afraid I’m gonna put things at risk. And I’m afraid I’m gonna miss you because I never hear God audibly. I’ve never had angels show up in the middle of my night telling me exactly what to do, «Thus sayeth the Lord,» you know, like, a 15-foot angel with big wings and all kinds of stuff. «God, wants you». I’d never had that. So, you wonder at times when God tells you to do something, will you miss it? But I believe God every time says, «If you miss it, I’ll find you. I’ll find you where you’re at». And when you know that, you get stirred up on the inside to say, «You know what, I’m going to go forth and if I fail, I fail. If I miss it, I miss it».
I’m not talking about being unwise. I’m not talking about not using godly council, and insight, and being irresponsible. I’m saying there are times when you have to decide, «I might miss God in this. I might fail, but I can trust that God knows how to find me even when I fail. I have to step into the impossibility and learn that Jesus is not a worried Jesus. He’s not afraid. He’s not intimidated by my failure. I’ve gotta get out on faith. I’ve gotta step into the impossibilities,» because that’s where God wraps himself. God wraps himself in faith. God wraps himself in the impossibility. And until you step into it, you never experience him like you’re longing to experience him.