Anything is Possible
By: Debbie Wuthnow - this article originally appeared in an iVoterGuide 3/31/26 email
Every year I look forward to Easter weekend, wanting to worship our risen Savior with all my heart. I love the joyous musical celebration of our Lord’s resurrection—“up from the grave he arose!”
To prepare my heart this Easter, I finally watched season five of the hit TV series “The Chosen” with my family. The season starts with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and recounts a fictional version of the days leading up to his arrest.
While I’ve often read the gospel accounts of Christ’s journey to the cross, I’ve enjoyed the fresh perspective provided by this dramatic rendering. Upon further reflection, the Lord graciously revealed to me a tiny new detail that breathed life into the resurrection story again.
Timeless truths
In the garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus asks God to “let this cup pass,” He anchors the request in this declaration: “Everything is possible for you.” Very similar words were spoken to Mary by the angel Gabriel when she struggled with the concept of virgin birth. He said, “Anything is possible with God.” Luke 1:37
When the Holy Spirit showed me the connection between these stories of Jesus’ birth and death, it captured my imagination. I envisioned Jesus as a little boy growing up in Nazareth with these holy words as a common refrain in His childhood home. Mary and Joseph had lived the reality of “anything is possible with God” —a virgin birth, angelic visitations, and prophetic dreams, just to name a few.
So I can imagine these words reverberating repeatedly against the walls of Jesus’ childhood home. Surely Mary had buoyed herself and her children with this timeless truth, spoken firsthand from angel lips: “Anything is possible with God.”
In Gethsemane these same words surfaced in the Savior as He stared down the violence of the cross. In the face of sin that would tear Him away from the presence of God, Jesus asked for another way forward. After all, He knew who He was and whom He served. Jesus was the Savior, but he was also the Son—and “anything is possible with God.”
Even as Jesus prayed for other possibilities, He prayed for God’s will to be done. He surrendered, knowing that the Father’s “no” made way for a greater “yes.” Yes to the ransom paid. Yes to resurrection power. Yes to eternal life.
Possibilities for new generations
When I read about those who founded the United States and commit my imagination to their stories, I see similar evidence of surrender. The Pilgrims who crossed the ocean were pursuing God. They wanted to worship freely. They wanted to share the gospel. And they surrendered their lives to God’s plan.
Later, when the Founding Fathers formed a resistance against increasingly oppressive British rule, they laid claim to their God-given rights. They fought a war that seemed impossible to win—not to seize power for themselves, but to liberate a nation. They committed their lives to the American experiment, trusting the words of Gabriel and of Christ: “Anything is possible with God.”
Generations that followed also sacrificed themselves so their children and grandchildren could carry forward the torch of freedom. Each generation chose to engage the evil of their day, and with God’s help, they overcame. They immersed themselves in the stories of history and in scripture. They prayed for guidance, surrendered to God, and took action.
Now it’s our turn. We follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, especially those of our Lord. We pray for possibilities even though we may not receive the answer we want. Because of Christ’s example, we know that a greater “yes” follows every “no.”
No matter what happens to us on earth, we can rejoice in the deposit of the Holy Spirit, and His presence as our Counselor and Comforter, guaranteeing our inheritance. And we rest in the confidence of that inheritance, which is eternal life with Him!
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