Applying the Old Testament to Your Life
2 Stories from Exodus That Show How God Can Help You Overcome Impossible Odds
Don’t ever forget—you’re in the hands of a God of miracles.
When I was first prompted to serve a mission, I didn’t believe I could do it. I’d always been very shy, and I didn’t know how I could spend 18 months starting conversations with strangers.
That anxiety only increased when I was called to serve in a different language.
But I did serve, and looking back, I see that I was never alone. I had been called by Heavenly Father, and He was with me every step of the way.
President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) repeatedly taught: “When we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help. Remember that whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.” God has proved the truth of that principle time and time again.
As you face challenges and even good-but-scary opportunities, He can qualify you too—but if you still doubt yourself or your abilities (like we all do at times), two stories from the book of Exodus show how He can help you overcome impossible odds.
God Takes Care of His People
In Exodus 1 we read of two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who find themselves in a precarious situation. Their duty was to keep the Hebrew women and their babies safe and healthy. The Pharaoh’s order to kill every male Hebrew baby directly contradicted their values and faith, but disobeying the order could cost them their lives.
However, Shiphrah and Puah “feared God” (Exodus 1:17) more than Pharaoh and decided not to follow the order. And guess what? “God dealt well with the midwives” (Exodus 1:20) and preserved both them and their households (see also verse 21).
This is just one example of God fulfilling the promise He makes in Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).
When you choose to do what’s right, God promises to bless you, and He never breaks a promise. Those blessings may not come right when we want them, but they will come.
God Is a God of Miracles
When Moses was called to free the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, the odds were really stacked against him. After all, Egypt was one of the most powerful nations in the world at the time, and the last time Moses had been there, he had been running for his life as a fugitive!
“Who am I,” he asked, “that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).
And if it were just Moses undertaking this mission, then yes, he probably would have failed. But he wasn’t alone. His call came from “a God of miracles” (Mormon 9:11) with the power to turn a rod into a serpent, transform rivers into blood, and part the Red Sea.
Moses’s story is just one example of how “the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7).
The Victory Is Already Won
If you feel like you’re facing your own impossible odds and wondering if you can overcome them, Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks to you: “The answer is yes. You can survive. You have in fact already been rescued; you have already been saved—by the One who has suffered the very torment you are suffering and endured the very agony you are enduring. Jesus has overcome the abuses of this world to give you power to not only survive but one day, through Him, to overcome and even conquer.”
Because of Jesus Christ, good has already conquered evil. Nothing can change the fact that He suffered and died for you, and there is nothing you can experience that He won’t understand and know how to heal (see Alma 7:11–13).
Looking back at the times Heavenly Father has helped His children—including myself—strengthens my faith that He will help me again. That doesn’t mean all the challenges go away, but knowing that I’m in the hands of a God of miracles gives me the confidence I need to keep following Him.
You can overcome. You can succeed. You can accomplish what Heavenly Father asks of you. Because by choosing to follow Him, you have His power—and love—on your side.