The idea that anything is possible surfaces through the sports media every now and then. I’ve encountered recent instances that have prompted thought. For example, having already pitched a complete game in Game 2 of the World Series (and in his previous playoff start), Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a winning game in Game 6 before stepping on the mound the very next day – almost unheard of – to be the Series-winning closer in Game 7. Of this pitcher, some sportscasters made comments like, “There are no limits,” “Anything is possible,” and “I wouldn’t put anything past this guy.”
When I heard those comments, I thought of Christ Jesus’ rousing words that are true for every one of us, recorded in the Bible: “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Jesus knew there are no limits in our Father-Mother God and that we are all God’s unlimited offspring. He was so clear about this that when his disciples asked Jesus whether a blind man they encountered was born that way because the man had sinned or because his parents had (see John 9:1-7), Jesus bypassed this search for a reason for the man’s blindness entirely. Instead he focused on the fact that this was an opportunity for the limitless works of God to be evidenced in the man. He understood that the man’s ability to see originated in God and could never be lost, and the man was healed.
Through my study of Christian Science, discovered by Mary Baker Eddy, I’ve learned that any perceived limits are suggestions coming to us in thought that would try to box us into a mortal view of selfhood. However, in reality we are spiritual and have our true being in God, so we are forever unlimited. And, as a college football player in the United States recently indicated, after a 16-win, zero-loss championship-winning season, the glory is God’s. Yes, we should always give God the glory, because God is truly the source of all power, abilities, and skills.
Jesus certainly never ceased to give God the glory, which these words indicate: “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him” (John 10:37, 38).
I’ve seen the fact of God being the true source of our abilities and skills proved in my own life in numerous ways, including in a sporting experience of my own that stands out to me vividly – my first marathon race. I recall praying with these words from the Bible in Isaiah: “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? … They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (40:28, 31).
I knew that I could trust in the truth that my strength comes from God, and I saw that this race was about demonstrating God’s power, not mine. God is with us all eternally, so that certainly included being with me for all 26.2 miles of the race. I completed the race with dominion and thanked God, giving God all the glory. And I have continued to lean on God as the true source of my abilities, having run in five marathons since. I found that was totally possible!
Mrs. Eddy, who founded this news organization, was an avid follower of Jesus. She also conveys this idea of God receiving the glory, stating: “In divine Science, God is recognized as the only power, presence, and glory” (“No and Yes,” p. 20). Divine Science is another name for Christian Science.
So, thought by thought, we have a choice to make: Either we accept the unreal suggestions of materiality, which claim that we’re limited mortals, or we acknowledge the reality that we are entirely spiritual – and therefore completely unlimited, having all the abilities and skills we need to accomplish any demand that comes our way.
Yes, anything is possible, and God gets the glory!
