The Gift of Impossibility: Lessons Learned from my Grandma

Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding”

“The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however, the condition for a great miracle is impossibility.”—Angus Buchan


Trust. To be honest, that’s a word I haven’t had much experience with. Let me explain. It’s not that I don’t have people in my life that I can trust. That’s not the case. It’s just that I live in such a way that there is little need for trust. I am self-reliant. I am independent. Many times, I am all that I need. I avoid the impossible and focus on the probable. Trust is not part of the equation because frankly, I don’t allow it to be. It’s safer this way.

But to be honest, I am realizing something new. I am learning that in order for there to be great reward, there must be great risk. I have felt that challenge placed on my heart lately in everything I have read, in my time with God, and in my interactions with others. One specific interaction that has challenged me in this area is my relationship with my grandmother.

I’ve been interviewing my grandmother, trying to capture the story of her life while I still have time. By looking at her sweet, soft, wrinkled face, you would never believe how adventurous her journey has been. She has lived a life filled with risks, never relying on what she knew logically, but always trusting God completely.

One story she told me brought her back to her early months of marriage. Her father had died at a young age, and she was married young as a result of this. But even at the age of 15, she was a woman who understood the meaning of trust- I guess she had to in order to survive.

One day her husband (my grandpa) came home from a week of traveling as an Evangelist in the countryside of Egypt, with not a penny in his pocket and not an ounce of food in the house. Though the week had been fruitful spiritually, it had not been fruitful financially. He came home that evening with no money and no courage to explain.

“Necima”, he said, “Let’s fast and pray this evening.” He could not get himself to tell her that they had absolutely no money for food, and he did the only thing he knew how to do- cry out to God.

Without one question, without one complaint, without one doubt- she did what she did best- she trusted. She trusted her husband, but primarily, she trusted God. They fasted and prayed together that entire evening and through part of the night. They trusted God because they had to. They trusted God because there was no other option. They trusted God because their very lives depended on it.

An early knock on the door brought the mail delivery man with a single envelope. When my grandpa opened the envelope, there lay a pile of cash- with no name, or note to trace it back to the giver. God had proven Himself faithful. He could be trusted.

My grandpa ran to tell my grandma the news and the reality of their financial situation before the envelope arrived. God had defied logic and he had defied their “own understanding”. With great risk came great reward.

That’s the beauty of our God. He challenges us to trust him. He challenges us to put our faith in Him when it makes absolutely no sense. He challenges us to rejoice in the soil of impossibility, for it becomes fertile ground for the miraculous to take place. Fertile ground for trust to sprout. Fertile ground to draw closer to our God in ways we never imaged.

Lord, may you challenge us to walk boldly on the road of impossibility. May you increase our trust in You and decrease our trust in ourselves every single step of the way.