May 3, 2026

Daily Devotional:

“The God of the "How"

Matthew 19:26

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

Jesus spoke these words right after his disciples asked a frantic question: "Who then can be saved?" They were looking at the sheer scale of human weaknessat the wall of impossibility, the grip of wealth, and the difficulty of a perfect life, and they concluded that the math simply didn’t add up.

We often find ourselves in that same seat of the "impossible." We look at a fractured relationship, a career path that seems blocked, or a personal habit we can't seem to break, and we do the mental math. We conclude that because we can’t see a way through, a way doesn't exist.

The beauty of Matthew 19:26 is that Jesus doesn't disagree with the disciples' assessment of human ability. He validates it. He essentially says, "You'reright. On your own, it is impossible." The power of this verse lies in the shift of the burden. "With man" refers to our limited resources, our finite energy, and our flawed logic. But "With God" refers to the One who speaks galaxies into existence and breathes life intodust. When Jesus says "all things are possible," he isn't offering a magic wand for our every whim. He is reminding us that when we reach the end of our "how," we are finally in the territory of His "can."

The verse serves as a rebuke to self-sufficiency. Jesus uses this moment to pivot the disciples' focus away from what they can do and toward what God does ontheir behalf. It is an invitation to stop struggling and start trusting. It means that our exhaustion is often a sign that we are trying to do "with man" what can only be done "with God." It’s a call to move from self-sufficiency to God-dependency. Matthew 19:26 means that human effort has a ceiling, but God’s grace does not. It is a promise that where our ability ends, God’s opportunity begins.

What is one "impossible" situation you’ve been trying to solve on your own that you can hand over to God today?