With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible

One of the consistent messages of President Nelson throughout his ministry is that we can do great things in our life with the help of the Lord. One of the books he has written is titled “Accomplishing the Impossible” and contains this quote at the beginning: “The Lord has more in mind for you than you have in mind for yourself. As you love Him and keep His commandments, great rewards—even unimaginable achievements—may be yours.” He highlighted this in the most recent general conference when he said this: “Moroni assured us that ‘God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.’ Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him…. In the same way, the Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, ‘doubting nothing.’ Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith. I promise that you can experience for yourself that Jesus Christ ‘giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.’” One scripture he likes to quote is the title of a talk he gave in 1988: “With God Nothing Shall Be Impossible.” He said, “As you remember that ‘with God nothing shall be impossible’ (Luke 1:37), know that He is your Father. You are a son or daughter created in His image, entitled through your worthiness to receive revelation to help with your righteous endeavors. You may take upon you the holy name of the Lord. You can qualify to speak in the sacred name of God (see D&C 1:20). It matters not that giants of tribulation torment you. Your prayerful access to help is just as real as when David battled his Goliath (see 1 Sam. 17).” Speaking of progress in family history work in 1998 in another talk he also said, “Tasks that once seemed beyond reach are now within our grasp. ‘With God nothing shall be impossible.’ A new harvest time has come. The way is opening by which we can obey His will.”

                In that 1988 talk he suggested three attributes we need to have in order to achieve the impossible. “The foremost requisite is faith. It is the first principle of the gospel (see A of F 1:4).” He reminded us of Paul’s teachings about how the faith of the great ancient prophets such as Noah, Abraham, and Jacob enabled them to accomplish great things (Hebrews 11:4-34). Similarly, Moroni spoke of “leaders whose faith preceded their miraculous deeds, including Alma, Amulek, Nephi, Lehi, Ammon, the brother of Jared, and the three who were promised that they should not taste of death (see Ether 12:13–20).” We too can work miracles if we will have faith like they did in Him. He continued, “The second requisite I have classified as focus.” By this he meant that our focus must be on the Savior and His plan for us. He explained, “Imagine, if you will, a pair of powerful binoculars. Two separate optical systems are joined together with a gear to focus two independent images into one three-dimensional view. To apply this analogy, let the scene on the left side of your binoculars represent your perception of your task. Let the picture on the right side represent the Lord’s perspective of your task—the portion of His plan He has entrusted to you. Now, connect your system to His. By mental adjustment, fuse your focus. Something wonderful happens. Your vision and His are now the same.” In order to accomplish the impossible we need to focus on His will and His vision for us instead of our own perceptions. Lastly he said this, “A third theme in the scriptures requisite for significant accomplishment is difficult to summarize in one word, so I shall link two to describe it—strength and courage. Repeatedly, scriptures yoke these attributes of character together, especially when difficult challenges are to be conquered.” One of the scriptures he referenced was this one from Joshua: “Be strong and of a good courage…. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law…. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:6-9). Whatever the Lord needs us to accomplish, we can do if we exercise faith in Him, focus on what He would have us do, and be strong and courageous. He summarized it this way: “Foster your faith. Fuse your focus with an eye single to the glory of God. ‘Be strong and courageous’ (2 Chr. 32:7), and you will be given power and protection from on high. ‘For I will go before your face,’ the Lord declared.” Whatever challenges we face or difficult tasks we need to accomplish, we can trust in Him with all our hearts and He will lead us to do even the impossible.