Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"

Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." (Genesis 18:10-14)

Isn’t it great to be an American? Our country is the greatest in the world. We have the strongest economy, the highest standard of living, the best scientists and doctors. We’ve gone to the Moon. We invented the Internet. Our ancestors took a wild and beautiful land and made it everything it is today in only a few brief centuries. They built this nation by hard work and rugged individualism. This country wasn’t built on handouts, it was built with determination, by men and women who believed they could do anything. It was the strong who made America great.

And so it is today. Our heroes are men and women who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, made their own fortunes. People like Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey got where they are by their own abilities, their own hard work. Our motto in America is “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” We’re told that it’s okay for men to cry, but most men know better than that. And women aren’t really successful unless they can balance a career with motherhood, and look great doing it. In America, you can’t rely on anyone else if you want to make it to the top.

But this all-American attitude does more harm than good. Basketball is a prime example. Every member of a basketball team is supposed to work with everyone else to win the game. Yet over and over again, especially in collegiate and pro teams, we see a few individuals who always end up with the ball, even when someone else has a clear shot, because they’re the “star” of the team. Teamwork is sacrificed so that the team’s hero can have the spotlight.

The American emphasis on individual success makes it hard for competitive people to work together for a common purpose, but people who aren’t competitive are hurt too. We Americans are a prideful people, and it hurts our pride when we have to accept help from others. “Charity” is a dirty word. Accepting help because you need it means that you’re a failure, because good Americans can solve their problems without help. There are countless people in this world that won’t accept help, even though they truly need it, because their pride won’t let them.

What we have to admit to ourselves is that we don’t have all the answers, we can’t fix every problem on our own. God made mankind perfect, with incredible powers of intellect and will. When God looked down on the construction of the Tower of Babel, He said to Himself: If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them (Genesis 11:6). But as incredible as mankind is, the human race is marred by the imperfection of sin, and sin constantly frustrates our plans. The designers of the Titanic bragged that their design was unsinkable—sin prevented them from considering every possible problem their ship could face. Jesus’ countrymen knew their Scriptures better than any people have ever known their sacred teachings, yet most of them could not see that Jesus was the promised Messiah, because sin clouded their judgment. Sin tells us that we don’t need God to solve our problems, we are perfectly capable of living our lives on our own.

But it’s all an illusion. We are far more helpless than we’d like to admit. If your car broke down, could you fix it without a mechanic? Could you grow your own cotton and make clothing from it yourself? If your child had a ruptured appendix, could you perform life-saving surgery? With no outside help, could you find it in yourself to forgive a person who has hurt you deeply, and hold no lasting grudge?

We absolutely need help, and we need it every day. We need help from our family, our coworkers, our neighbors. We most especially need help from God. Of all the people in your life, who do you most trust to be willing to help you? Who is the most likely to be able to help you? You know, of course, that it must be God. Family and friends can’t always help—sometimes they’re far away or short on time or money. Sometimes family and friends won’t help, because of words spoken in anger. Only God can be counted on every time. Only God has the infinite power to be able to do anything, and the infinite wisdom to always do the right thing at the right time. And so often, God is the last person we turn to when we need help.

It can’t be because God doesn’t have the power to help us. God has done amazing things. Just consider some of His miracles. He made the Earth out of nothing and populated it with all kinds of birds, animals, fish, insects and plants. He covered the entire surface of this huge planet with water in the Great Flood, yet kept one vessel full of survivors safe throughout this catastrophe. He parted the Red Sea before Moses and made the seabed dry for the Israelites to walk on. He stopped the sun from setting for a day so that Joshua’s army could win a battle. He kept Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo unhurt while in the flames of Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace. Most significant of all, He caused a virgin to give birth to the god-man, Jesus Christ. There is no limit to God’s power.

Or do we fail to turn to God because we don’t believe He will help us? This is an incredible error. God’s care for us is unquestionable. Jesus said, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny ? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31). Jesus gave His very life so that every human being could be freed from the guilt of their sins. God took upon Himself the divine punishment we deserved from Him through the life and death of Jesus, so that we would no longer have to fear death and what comes after it. No one has ever loved you, no one will ever love you, more than our Lord.

God has the power and the desire to help us. Consider this passage from Matthew: A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy (Matthew 8:2-4). This is our God. A God who has the means and the desire to help us.

We tend to be like Sarah. When she heard God promise that within the year she would give birth, she laughed at the notion. Like us, she had tried to take care of things herself. Back when Abraham and she had first come west at God’s command, she was still beautiful—beautiful enough that on two occasions local kings wanted her for themselves. When the couple had first settled in their new home, God had promised Abraham descendants. God had repeated this promise to Abraham at least four more times since then, but as the years passed, Sarah had gotten impatient. Because she did not conceive, she convinced her husband that God’s promise was for him, not her, and encouraged Abraham to have a child by their servant Hagar. But although a child was conceived, this wasn’t the child promised by God, and Ishmael’s descendants would become enemies of the Israelites. By taking matters into her own hands, Sarah remained childless, and created problems for her family as well. Since she had tried everything she knew how to do and had failed, she scoffed at the idea that after so long a time God could or would make good on His promise. God’s reply to her cynicism? Is anything too hard for the LORD?

This is the question: is anything too hard for the Lord? It’s an important question, because if there is something too hard for Him to do, then we can’t rely on God in our every need, we really do have to look out for ourselves. So let us consider God’s limitations. Are there limits on His ability to make things? God made the sun, moon and stars and set them in motion. He created all living things. When you were conceived, He wove together your DNA and gave you your soul. We must conclude that God can make anything.

Is God limited by time? We are limited by time. When we are young, we’re inexperienced and weak; when we are old, we become forgetful and frail. We can only do so many things at one time, and it takes a while to finish big projects. But God is not limited by time. He created time. God is eternal; Psalm 90 says, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Jesus identified Himself as being eternal when He said, before Abraham was born, I AM (John 8:58). God created millions of plants during the third day of creation. He caused a shadow to move ten steps the wrong way as the seal to a promise made to King Hezekiah. God has determined when time will end in Final Judgment. We must conclude that God is not limited by time.

Since God is not limited by space or time, can our sins limit Him in what He can do? Consider this passage from Matthew: Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." And the man got up and went home (Matthew 9:2-7). Jesus did this miracle both to help the paralytic and to show that He had power over sin. Earth and everything in it was perfect before Adam sinned; after Adam’s sin, decay and death became the ugly partners of life. Jesus not only healed diseases and injuries, He healed the sin that was responsible for their existence. When Jesus died on the cross, the burden of our sins died with Him. When Jesus returned to life, it proved that He is greater than our sinfulness. We have to conclude that God is not limited by our sins.

We have the answer to our question: nothing is too hard for the Lord, not even lifting us up and cleaning us off from our wallowing in sinful behavior. But it is hard for us to trust in God when we can’t see Him or touch Him; it is hard for us to trust Him when He makes us wait for something we think we need right now. We have been let down so many times by family and friends; it is hard to remember that God is perfectly dependable, when no one else in our life is. Well, we can’t see God or touch Him now, but we can hear Him whenever we like. God speaks to us in His Word, preserved for us in the Bible. Whenever we open His book and read it, whenever we listen to His teachers speak His word, we hear the voice of God. And through His Word He assures us of His love, He invites us to give our cares and sorrows to Him. Jesus says Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). For the weak and helpless, there are no sweeter words than these.

So I invite you to have confidence in God’s power and in His love. Whatever makes you feel helpless, whether it be a damaged relationship with family or friends, imperfect health, a shortage of time or money, or the loss of a loved one, turn to God first with your need. Humbly admit that you need help, that you don’t have the power or wisdom to find a way out, and God will answer your prayer. It may not be right away, or quite the way you were expecting, but His wisdom is greater than your wisdom. He knows exactly what you need and exactly the right time to give it to you. Trust in the Lord. Nothing is too hard for Him.