Is Anything Too Hard For The Lord? Gen. 18:11 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
God asked Abraham this question, Is anything too hard for the Lord, after Sarah laughed about having a son. Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children [Gen 17:17; 21:5]. Obviously, it wasn’t too hard for the Lord to give them a son because they had Isaac even when “it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women,” [Gen 18:11].
Jeremiah answered this question in Jer 32:17, “… there is nothing too hard for thee.” The Lord restated the question in Jer 32:27, “… is there anything too hard for me?” And the answer is, “No.” He made the heaven and the earth, he made a man out of dust, he made a woman from a man’s rib, and he brought forth his own Son from a virgin.
A rich man came to Jesus asking what he must do to have eternal life [Matt 19:16] and the Lord instructed him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and then follow Jesus [Matt 19:21]. The rich man wouldn’t do it. Following his departure, the Lord told his disciple that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich to enter in the kingdom of God, [Matt 19:24]. This prompted his disciples to ask, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible,” [Matt 19:26]. Don’t you realize that your own salvation was impossible with you? You had to be born of God [Jn 1:12-13]. And as Gabriel told Mary in Lk 1:37, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
Now, consider this, what you are facing in your life right now is hard for you. May I remind you, it may be hard for you, but it’s not hard for the Lord. You say, but what I am facing is “impossible.” Well, it may be impossible for you, but it’s not impossible with the Lord. For with God nothing shall be impossible. With God all things are possible.
You say, then what am I supposed to do?
Wait on God – since you can’t do the thing yourself, then you’re going to have to wait for God to do it. Abraham was 75 years old when God promised him the seed [Gen 12:4, 7]. But Abram and Sarai didn’t wait on God long enough [Gen 16:1-3]. After ten years they cooked up the plan with Hagar. It wasn’t until Abraham was 99 years old [Gen 17:1] that God came through for them on his promise [Gen 17:15-17]. So, remember, if something is too hard for you or impossible for you and God has to do it, then you are just going to have to wait on God.
Trust God – Heb 11:11 – initially Sarah laughed but she got over her incredulity and believed God. Through faith Sarah received strength to conceive seed. Look at Rom 4:17-21, Abraham also believed God. Often these things we face in life that seem so hard require the faith of husbands AND wives. We must trust the Lord. Isn’t it silly to trust anyone else when he is the only one who can really take care of what we are facing [Ps 118:8-9].
Obey God – Gen 21:2 – do you realize that Abraham and Sarah had to act on God’s promise. They had to do “their part,” obediently. They weren’t obedient when they involved Hagar, but they were obedient when they conceived Isaac. You can’t sit around while you are trusting God and waiting on God. Joseph served obediently under Potiphar and under the warden in jail until the day God brought him out to rule and fulfilled his dreams. You must follow that which you know to do from what God has shown you of his will. If that rich man had done what Jesus had told him to do he would still have his possessions today [“treasure in heaven”] and he would have the eternal life he was seeking.
Conclusion: and know this. If God doesn’t do it, then you know it wasn’t his will. And God’s will is all that matters! Just because he can do it doesn’t mean that he will. He didn’t take the cup from Jesus but the outcome was so much better. Trust that his will is better than yours.