For nothing will be impossible with God. – Luke 1:37
James Buchanan Eades was born in Indiana in 1820. By the time he was 8, his family had moved, penniless, to St. Louis, Missouri. He was largely self-educated. By age 13 he was working to help support the family at a dry goods store owned by a man who had a massive library located above the store. Eades used any spare time he had to read up on physical science, mechanics, machinery, and civil engineering. At age 22, he designed a salvage boat and with the help of a couple investors, salvaged wrecks from the Mississippi River. He learned the characteristics and temperaments of that great river and by the time of the Civil War was called upon to consult on how to defend it. Through his boat-building skills, he was able to design and build warships. After the war, with people desiring to migrate to the West, crossing the river was essential, but fraught with danger.
Eades designed and built a bridge of steel… the longest arch bridge in the world when it was finished, and the first to utilize a cantilever method of construction. At the time, many thought it would be an impossible challenge, but the Eades Bridge is still in use today, carrying both automobile and light rail over the river. People still marvel at the success of the self-taught engineer.
Have you been caught up in the “It can’t be done; it’s impossible, I don’t have the resources” trap? Many are. Do you not serve the God of the Impossible? You might not be called upon to bridge the Mississippi River, but perhaps you are being asked to bridge divides among neighbors or to introduce a lost friend to Christ. An Indiana pastor once said that God is ready to invade the space of your impossibilities with divine opportunities. You can trust Him.
Pray that the men and women in Congress would turn toward the God of the Impossible and set aside their erroneous ways of trusting only in themselves.
Today’s Verse: Luke 1:37
For nothing will be impossible with God.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Mark 10:17-27
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
