Grace for the Unable
Scripture: “And he said to them, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.'” (Luke 18:27 ESV)
Main Point: The impossible demands of Jesus drive us not away from Him but deeper into His grace, where we discover that our inability becomes the occasion for His power.
We’ve spent six days looking at Jesus’ impossible demands: hating family, bearing crosses, counting costs, making peace, renouncing all, maintaining saltiness. If we’re honest, these demands crush us. We realize we don’t have what it takes. We can’t do what He asks. We are completely unable.
Good. That’s exactly where Jesus wants us.
Throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus has revealed Himself as the Savior of the lost, the Helper of the helpless, the Friend of failures. He comes not for those who have their spiritual lives together but for those who know they don’t. He calls not the righteous but sinners to repentance.
When Jesus’ words reveal our absolute inability, His cross reveals God’s radical grace. The demands that seem to disqualify us are actually the very things that qualify us for mercy. Our emptiness creates space for His fullness. Our weakness provides the opportunity for His strength.
This is the beautiful pattern of Christianity: we follow Jesus not because we have counted the cost and determined we are able, but because we have counted the cost and realized we are unable. Our inadequacy becomes the very reason we cling to His adequacy. Our insufficiency drives us to His all-sufficiency.
“Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.” Notice: “Take myself.” We are not the ones doing the taking. Christ takes us, claims us, transforms us by His grace. What is impossible with us becomes possible through Him.
Reflection:
Contemplate how our inability becomes the occasion for God’s power. How has recognizing your inability driven you closer to His grace? Where do you need to stop striving in your own strength? What would it look like to live more fully in the truth that “what is impossible with man is possible with God”?
Prayer:
Dear Savior, thank You for taking me in my weakness and making me Yours. What is impossible with me is possible with You. In Your victorious Name. AMEN.
Responses