Once when my Grandpa Schuller was on a plane, he met a mathematician who told him an amazing story. The man shared that when he was in graduate school, he was running late for class one day and arrived when it was nearly over. Because of his tardiness, he missed a lecture about a problem that was on the board. Assuming it was a homework assignment, he copied it down and the teacher jokingly told him the solution was due on Friday. When he got back to his dorm room, he started working on the problem, only to discover that it was much tougher than he expected. He struggled with it all week long, but he ultimately sorted it out. On Friday, he found his professor and presented him with the solution. Stunned, the professor proceeded to tell his pupil that the problem was known to be unsolvable and that no one had ever come up with an answer…until then! Amazingly, because he hadn’t heard the teacher use the word impossible to describe the assignment, he didn’t perceive any limitations and he figured it out. After that, the young man become a world-famous mathematician. Without knowing it, his professor launched him into an amazing career!

Similarly, for a long time people thought it was impossible to break the four minute mile; they believed that no human being had the athletic capacity to do it. Then, in 1954, Roger Bannister completed it in 3:59.4, which set the stage for a bunch of other people to follow. Once the barrier of perceived impossibility was broken, hundreds of people began to run a mile in under four minutes and it become more commonplace, almost like it was no big deal.

Friend, many of us are bound by our fears and perceived limitations because we forget that God is in our bodies and our minds. He made us in His image and if He wants us to do something, we can and will do it! In fact, he loves to use imperfect people to do impossible things — I believe that with my whole heart! As you anticipate your Christmas celebrations and reflect on the birth of Jesus, remember that because He came, good things are in store for you. He ushered in an undying hope and a Kingdom that is unshakable, so the sky is the limit in your life. Isn’t that great news?