REALLY NOW, IS ANY THING TOO HARD FOR GOD?

 

          Still I’m working on the idea of God conversing with us. I’m not getting glassy-eyed or frothing at the mouth. I simply posed a rhetorical or hypothetical question to my self and wondered how such a thing might take place. (Just meditating, you understand. I’m not given to rambling around aimlessly, mumbling and muttering under my breath.).

         Engaged as I was in this little ‘spiritual, intellectual exercise,’ I moved quite naturally and logically to conclude that almost all of us sometimes begin conversations with a question. Then, we wait for an answer. And, of course, silence is sometimes part of a conversation. If we were attempting to speak with God, wouldn’t it make sense that He might begin a dialogue with a question? And then be quiet and not say anything else until His question was answered? And, out of respect for us He might follow the question with silence in order to give us time to ponder our reply.
        

          Doesn’t’ that seem logical and sensible?
         So far in previous posts we’ve asked ourselves some of the same questions God asked others in the past, namely: Where are you? (Adam) Who are you? (Jacob/Israel) What is that in your Hand? (Moses)
In each of those instances, the questions were asked and the person addressed was expected to reply before the conversation continued. They were also expected and encouraged to think
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me? Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it.” {Jer 32:26-28 RSV}
         Is ANYTHING too hard for Me? A confident Deity would surely have no need to ask the answer to such a question.
The question was asked in a very troubled and turbulent time. The nation of Israel was in grave peril. The kind of times that try men’s souls and tests faith to the breaking point. The kind that causes Henny Penny to rush about frantically crying: “The Sky is Falling Down! The sky is falling down. What are we going to do? What can we do? The world is teetering on the edge of destruction. Where do we go? What can we say? What is there to cling to?”
         In Psalm 11:3, a rhetorical question is raised: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The short, simple answer is “They should go on being righteous.”
Now the question is on the table. The more dangerous the conditions, the more is riding on the answer. In your own personal situations, that question is crucial. I believe the question is asked in such a way it presupposes an answer. God already knows. He’s confident in His ability. Some who need to ‘get a handle’ on the answer are writing or reading and considering the question now.
You and I need to answer the question for ourselves. If we answer “Yes,” the only option left open to you is to take all matters into our own hands. If our destinies are not secure in His care, they are not safe anywhere.
If you answer the question correctly, a world of infinite possibilities and endless hope is open immediately. If that is the case~ That is, if nothing is too hard for the Lord, does it take a large stretch to go from there to being able to say: “I can do all things through Him who loved me and gave Himself for me?”*
        

         Here’s what I’ve been doing. I’m imagining God engaging me in conversation, and He does that in this instance, by asking another probing question: “Is anything too hard for me? Don. I’m talking to you. Do you honestly think ANYTHING is too difficult for me?”

          Sometimes it seems we’re pushed to the outer limits of our ability. If things are within comfortable boundaries which we establish, I can handle that job all by myself. Thank you. In such cases, I may delude myself into thinking I don’t really need God. In other instances, though, it seems God allows me to have challenges which are clearly beyond my ability.

         Abraham Lincoln must surely have felt that way when he said: “I’ve been driven to my knees in prayer often when I felt there was simply no place to go.” I’ve known the feeling, even though nothing in my experience has come close to the burdens such a man had to carry. Still, it’s as if He permits that kind of thing to happen. It serves as a “wake-up call.” It reminds me that God is God, and I am not.
So, honestly and humbly I admit there are many, many things which are forever beyond me.

         But, thankfully, they are not beyond Him. I believe what the Bible says is true: With God, all things are possible. And, believing that, we can also confidently affirm: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
          

          So, if God were to ask: “Don, do you really, really believe that nothing is too hard for me?”

         I will answer: “Yes, Sir. I do believe that to be true.”

          I imagined Him going a bit further, delving beneath the surface, and perhaps discussing the things which have stumped me. Problems which my best efforts have failed to solve. He won’t let me off the hook. In the same way that Jesus posed the question for Peter that morning by the Sea of Galilee: “Simon, do you love me?” He poses the question, presses it, and waits patiently for our answer.
What if God were to ask you, in light of every challenge facing you, every problem that threatens to break your heart, blow your mind or destroy your world . . . “Do you think THAT IS TOO HARD FOR ME TO HANDLE?”

         If you’re really convinced that nothing is too hard for the Lord, why not let Him handle the things you cannot?

 

God’s son and servant, your friend and fellow student, > donkimrey >

* (Philippians 4:13).