The Way You Think May Be Making Everything Seem Impossible

Discouragement usually starts in your mind.

A lot of things feel impossible before they actually are.

Have you ever been on a long trip, looked at the map, and thought, We are never going to get there?

That’s what the mind does. It measures distance. It calculates delay. It magnifies difficulty.

Faith does something else. Faith sees the same road and says, God will get me there.

When Israel entered the wilderness, everything around them looked impossible. Sand and mountains stretched as far as they could see. No food. No water. No shelter.

But 40 years later, they arrived.

What looked impossible to them was never impossible to God. It only seemed impossible while they were in the middle of it.

I try to walk 1.5 miles every morning, and every day my mind tells me it is too far!

That’s how your mind works if you let it. It can make a problem look bigger than it is. It can make a delay feel like defeat. It can make a challenge seem like the end.

Here are four ways to overcome the thought that something is impossible:

Agree with God and somebody else.

Start by agreeing with God.

Find a promise in His Word that fits your situation—financial, physical, family, ministry, or whatever you are facing.

Then read that promise out loud so your ears can hear it. Say with your mouth, “God, I agree with Your Word. You said it, and I believe nothing can stop what You have promised.”

Then find somebody else who believes God can do anything and ask them to agree with you. Jesus said, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about ANYTHING they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Mt. 18:19).

There is power in agreement.

Now you have God’s promise in your heart, God’s Word in your mouth, and another believer standing with you in faith.

Do not allow doubt, complaining, and fear to work in your thoughts.

You must take charge of your thinking.

Thoughts of fear, failure, and impossibility do not come from God. He is not speaking defeat to you. He is not feeding your discouragement. He is the God of hope, promise, strength, and help.

And be careful who you listen to.

If you stay around negative, complaining, critical, unbelieving people long enough, their spirit will get on you. Their words will work on your mind until their unbelief starts sounding normal.

Guard your heart. Guard your atmosphere.

Stay in praise. Stay in joy. Cast down discouraging thoughts the moment they come. Speak to them immediately with the Word of God: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

You do not have to accept every thought that knocks on the door of your mind.

Keep your mind’s eye on the finished miracle.

Abraham looked at the stars and let every star become the face of one of his children.

Israel looked at the serpent on the pole, and as they fixed their eyes on what God had provided, they were healed.

What you keep seeing inwardly matters.

See yourself finishing the race. See yourself strong. See yourself healed. See your family restored. See the answer come. See the breakthrough completed.

The enemy will try to plant pictures in your mind of failure, embarrassment, defeat, loss, and disappointment. Those are wicked imaginations. Paul said we must “cast down imaginations” (2 Cor. 10:5).

The Holy Spirit gives another picture. He gives thoughts of victory, conquest, restoration, and accomplishment. Those thoughts keep your faith alive in the darkest moments.

Don’t constantly check your progress.

A farmer plants his seed and leaves it alone.

He works around it. He waters it. He protects it. He cultivates the ground. But he does not dig it up every morning to see if it is working.

A lot of believers do exactly that.

They pray. They believe. They sow the seed. Then the next day they dig it up with doubt, fear, and constant inspection.

Stop digging up your seed.

Trust the seed. Trust the promise. Trust the process.

It is growing, even before you can see it.

I know some things in your life may seem impossible right now.

But often the real impossibility is not in your circumstance.

It is in overcoming the thoughts that tell you to quit, give up, back off, and stop believing.

Win that battle in your mind, and you will keep walking long enough to see your miracle with your own eyes.