I love A.W. Tozer. Perhaps no one has had a greater impact on my walk with Jesus than this late, great preacher. Tozer once wrote, “Anyone can do the possible; add a bit of courage and zeal and some may do the phenomenal; only Christians are obliged to do the impossible.” I understand this isn’t scripture, but A.W. was a man who walked incredibly close to our God. I hold what he said in the highest regard.
Did you catch what he said about doing the impossible? He didn’t say we should try to do it, or we should pray to be able to do it, he said we are obliged to do the impossible. Obliged means to “make (someone) legally or morally bound to an action or course of action.” In other words, we are morally bound to do the impossible!
If being obligated to do the impossible doesn’t get you excited, you may want to have someone check your pulse! I understand you may feel a bit of apprehension around being obligated to do the impossible. It’s exciting but can seem quite daunting. Let me remind you Jesus said through Him all things were possible (Matthew 19:26). This takes all the pressure off because Jesus just eliminated the word impossible. There are no impossible tasks in the Kingdom of God. The only things still qualifying for the term impossible are those we attempt in our own strength. Once we invite Jesus into the equation, all things are suddenly possible!
With this in mind, I think the spirit of what Pastor Tozer was saying is, “Nothing is impossible in Christ, so we are morally bound to do whatever He commands and leads us to do.” All our excuses are blown out of the water. We no longer have any right to hesitate or shy away from what God is giving us to do. No mountain is too high to climb, no obstacle is insurmountable, and there is no situation which cannot be overcome. Nothing is bigger than God. When we let our fear and insecurities keep us from obeying our King we are believing the lies of Satan instead of the truth of God.
What are you facing in life that seems impossible to overcome? What has God called you to do that you’ve been avoiding because you thought it was too hard, you were too unqualified, or you lacked the resources to accomplish? In other words, what did you feel led to do but determined it to be impossible? You either forgot or didn’t understand we are obliged to do the impossible.
All things are possible through Christ. We are now uniquely qualified and equipped to do the impossible. There is nothing He has placed in our hearts we cannot accomplish. Isn’t that freeing? So, that thing you’ve been putting off? Your excuses are gone. You are obligated to get it done. You surrendered your life to Christ and He has given you work to do (Ephesians 2:10). He even went so far as to make certain it was possible you could get it done. What are you waiting for? Get to it and do the impossible!