The Impossible Made Possible

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6)

Have you ever imagined how Mary and the other ladies must have felt when they arrived at the tomb and found it empty?

They loved their Lord and were there to honor Him by anointing his body with perfume. But when they arrived, Jesus was nowhere to be found. It was as if He had vanished. The angel said He had risen, but that seemed, in a word, impossible.

Yet as the morning wore on, Jesus’ followers realized it was true. What others thought could never happen had happened. Jesus had risen from the grave. He was alive!

I love the resurrection story for so many reasons, but I keep coming back to the reality that Jesus did what everyone else thought was impossible. I love to share this truth with our guests here at the Mission. Often they are at the end of their rope, all hope has faded and the idea of a fresh start seems impossible. But in Christ, we see that the impossible is made possible.

James* is a wonderful example of that.

He’s one of those guys people would think could never change. A heroin addict who’d been selling drugs since he was 12 years old. His future was bleak. Nothing seemed to shake him out of his addiction. He even did drugs in front of his young son.

On the outside, it looked like he was destined for jail, or death. But when James came to the Mission, everything changed.

“I prayed for the first time when I came here,” James said. “What I prayed for was faith. I said, ‘Jesus, if you’re out there, give me the faith to follow the path YOU want me to follow.’ I’ve had faith ever since. It’s still growing in me. It’s been proven so much to me and I just know it’s a fact. I’ve never had that before.”

James now has a whole new life. He’s clean and sober, and attending classes to become a drug and alcohol counselor. He plans to use his past to help others in the future. It’s a complete turn-around!

A change that many thought was impossible.

That’s the miracle of Easter. Because of Jesus we never have to lose hope. Anything is possible.

Thank you for your prayers and support. Please keep praying for James and his son as well as the hundreds of guests we will serve at The Mission on April 20.