As You Battle the Impossible – You Need Far More than Religion

If you are facing a battle right now that appears absolutely impossible, and there are no solutions anywhere in sight, you need something far greater than this author can give you, far greater than any “religious” book can give you. You need Jesus Christ.

Your life might be an absolute train wreck. He is still God’s only answer to every human problem, and no problem poses even the slightest challenge to His power. I pray that God will use the story that is unfolding in this book to open your eyes to the reality of who Jesus Christ really is, and to cause you to trust in Him alone.

Does that sound foolish? I suppose so. But God’s Word does not apologize for God’s foolishness, nor will I …
Maybe your heart leaps a little as you read this story, particularly when I tell you that Jesus can help you to deal with your broken dreams and guide you in your impossible battles. Maybe you’d like to know Him the way I am suggesting it is possible to know Him, but you fear it’s too late for you.

You’ve made far too many mistakes in your life, and there’s no way you can fix them now. There’s no use kidding yourself, you don’t fit the religious mold. Honestly, you never have. You’d never be able to clean up your act and make yourself acceptable enough for God, and you know it. You’ve got far too much history, and you’ve messed things up way too badly.

Besides, your life is so hard right now. The last thing you have time for is becoming “religious.” You suspect that turning to God will mean He’ll require you to jump through countless religious hoops, and this will make your life that much harder. No, now is not the time to think about becoming religious. Now is the time to survive.

You’ve already failed at so much in life. You may as well be honest with yourself and forget all this Jesus stuff, and avoid failing at religion on top of everything else you’ve botched in life.

If what I’ve just said in the above paragraphs mirrors some of your thoughts … I have some excellent news for you.The fact that you recognize that you’re not good enough, that you don’t have what it takes, indicates that you are already very close to the kingdom of God.

No one who has ever lived, save Jesus Christ, was good enough either.
One of the clearest descriptions of the gospel message I’ve ever heard came from Phillip Yancey’s book Disappointment with God, as he quotes from Will Campbell’s Brother to a Dragonfly:

“We’re all bastards, but God loves us anyway.”

That pretty much nails it!

It may be hard for you to believe, but in God’s eyes you are in no lesser position than all the other bastards, including the most religious person you’ve ever met.

Every person on this earth is a dreadful, ugly sinner who, without Christ, is worthy only of hell. What’s more, any effort that anyone makes to prove themselves good enough to be saved without Christ is like a filthy rag in His sight. He doesn’t want our efforts to be good. He wants our humble admission that we are not good.

God knows your life is hard. He is not seeking to add “religion” to the heavy burden you are already carrying. The good news of the gospel is that God loves sinners. He loves you already, right now, far more than you can possibly understand. He has loved you since before the day you were born, and He has loved you every day since. He is ready to forgive you for every sinful thing you have ever done and accept you completely, just the way you are, even with your history of past failures.

Pompous religion be damned! False religion is more foolish to God than it is to you; and frankly, arrogance and phony religion made Jesus furious as He walked the earth. He longs to give you something far better than religion.
Any attempt to clean yourself up to be worthy and presentable before coming to Him will only mess things up more. The truth is that you will never be good enough, and you don’t have to be.

God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). He hates the pretentiousness of those who think they are good enough (including those proud of their “religion”) and He exalts those who know they aren’t good enough.

The Physician can only heal those who are sick, not those who think they are well. If you are ashamed that your life is a total mess, then you are finally getting somewhere in God’s foolish economy.

The forgiveness and salvation He holds out to you is not based on any efforts that you can ever achieve. He holds forgiveness and eternal life out to you as a gift, through the provision of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for you.

The gifts of the forgiveness for your sins and of eternal life, are completely free to you. God asks only that you receive His awesome gift, and respond. You respond by telling Him that you know you don’t have what it takes to clean up your act, but that you are grateful for Christ’s loving sacrifice on the cross which makes this gift free to you. You determine in your heart to turn from your selfishness and sin and to allow Jesus Christ to take over your life from this point forward.

His Spirit will come to live inside of you, and for the first time in your life you will become fully alive and fully free to be the man or woman He created you to be.

And with regard to all of your insurmountable problems, remember that God runs a universe. Your problems are no challenge whatsoever to the power of Jesus Christ. Hand your problems, and yourself, over into His good hands.

From pp 83-84 of the book, All the Kings Horses – Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility, by Barry Milazzo