Remember: Things Once Considered Impossible Are Now Possible

It’s interesting to remember that things which were considered impossible in the not too distant past have been found to be possible, after all.

In a book I was looking through this morning I came across an anecdote regarding Robert H. Goddard who was “the driving force behind America’s early space programs.”

Apparently, Goddard was mocked many years ago in the New York Times for believing a rocket could travel through outer space. In the Times it was pointed out that Goddard did not even possess “the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” Not a very nice thing to write about a respected scientist, huh? But that did not cause Goddard to quit.

The thinking against Goddard’s ridiculous idea of space travel went like this: “With no atmosphere in outer space and therefore nothing for an engine to thrust against… a rocket couldn’t move an inch. That was in 1920.”

Of course, we now know the experts regarding what-is-possible and what-is-impossible at the New York Times, in 1920, were wrong.

In the late 1960s—following the Apollo 11 mission which reached the moon—the Times made a reference to their earlier editorial, writing “the Times regrets the error.” When that happened I doubt if Goddard pointed, made faces and laughed at them. Eminent scientists don’t typically behave that way…I think.

Hey, it’s easy to be tough on the New York Times for their shortsightedness but this is a great example of the point I’m getting at: A mission which seemed literally impossible according to the laws of science (as many educated people understood them at the time) turned out to be possible, after all.

I like the idea that we still don’t know everything and that there are all kinds of possibilities we have not yet exhausted. It helps me feel optimistic and hopeful. And it reminds me of someone I know.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’"  Matthew 19:26

[ I read the anecdote about Robert Goddard in a book titled, “Get Out Of Your Own Way” by Robert K. Cooper ]

Before "Outside-The-Box Thinking" Was Around

There are all kinds of things which were once thought to be impossible but now they exist. For example, almost everyone reading this post has a device in their pocket that can perform functions which would have been considered outside the realm of possibility even 75 years ago.

Think about telling a person in 1940, “Seventy five years from now I will have a small device in my pocket—which will be unconnected to any wires—and I will be able to speak the name of a destination into that device. The device will then give me precise verbal directions to the destination.”

The person would have been likely to tell you, “I doubt it.” Ironically, a smarter and better educated person would have been more capable of providing legitimate reasons why such a thing would not be possible.

But here we are in 2015 and we practically take such a miracle for granted. In fact we are irritated if our phone’s GPS service is a little slower than it ought to be.

Think about this: Much of what exists in terms of technological achievement, if we go back in history far enough, would have been considered impossible.

Long ago—way before cell phones—God was challenging us to think in terms of possibilities. With His help; His guidance; His insight; His encouragement; His power and an understanding that He is not limited in the ways we are; utilizing the intellect and the skills He has given us; God wants us to consider impossibilities to be mountains which are capable of being moved.

God was encouraging outside-the-box thinking, based on faith in Him, long before the phrase “outside-the-box” had been coined.

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Jesus, Matthew 17:20