From 1850 to 1940 the idea of someone running a 4 minute mile seemed impossible. The fastest runners in the world were not even coming close, but in 1954 Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile by completing it 3:59. Now the record is 3:43…almost a full 17 seconds faster. Once someone broke the pattern, what seemed to be impossible almost became common. There are some things that God wants to do through you that seem impossible. God wants to make those things common if you will push to break the patterns of your life.

In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul told Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” In essence he was telling Timothy to not allow His own expectations or others expectations limit what God wanted to do through his life. If you desire for things that seem to be impossible to become common you must also learn to break through the expected patterns of your life. The experiences in your past do not have to be a limitation for you future.

For Timothy the limiting expectation on his life was his age. It was his age and inexperience that had the potential to sidetrack God’s desire. However, Timothy learned to break that pattern. Throughout scripture many of the people who have done significant things for God had to do so despite the limited expectations of their own or others.

Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and had all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, The Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. All of these men and women had reason to expect the future of their life to follow the pattern of their past. However, they chose to break the patterns of their life by following God’s direction.

Today’s Challenge: Realize that the impossible can become common when we choose to trust and obey God despite what patterns of our past it may cause us to break.