Is Anything Too Hard For the Lord?

Is Anything Too Hard For the Lord is the question asked?

Pastor Tommy Wensil

Gen. 18:14

The eighteenth chapter of Genesis is power packed. It begins with an angelic visit to the home of Abraham. Two of Abrahams visitors were obviously angels and the third was none other than the Lord Jesus himself– before Bethlehem (Gen. 18:33; 19:1).

The visit was a confirmation and reassurance that Abraham was going to be a father (Gen. 17:15-19; 18:10-14). Isaac was to be the promised seed, but the circumstances didn’t look good! When the circumstances don’t look good its amazing that God shows UP!

Someone has wisely observed:”When God is going to do something wonderful, he starts with difficulty. When God is going to do something very wonderful and miraculous He starts with impossibility.”

I. The Appearance of the Lord– (progress of his life)
Each appearance of the Lord on Abrahams behalf was to remind him that God was greater than his problems– whatever they were.
A. Greater Than His Family– Gen. 12:1 “had said” (Acts 7:2,3)
God had appeared to Abram before he dwelt in Haran (Acts 7:2). Abram seems to have delayed for some time because of his father (Gen. 11:32).

We are not to limit God because our family seeks to hinder us in the work of the Lord. We are able to launch out by faith and find God’s will for our lives.

If you have unsaved family members don’t allow then to hinder your service to the Lord– God is greater than your family.
B. Greater Than His Foes– Gen. 12:6,7 “Canaanite was then…land”

The Lord’s appearance to Abram as he journeyed was to give him assurance and comfort regarding his inheritance in the land. God was saying to Abram “regardless of who is in the land, Abram, I’m going to give it to you because I have the power!”

There may be warlike giants and walled cities but they are not to hard for God. There are enemies all around us today but “greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4).
C. Greater Than His Feelings– Gen. 17:1-5 “Almighty God” all sufficient

Every Christian has times when they feel the reality of their own weakness. Obviously Abraham is 99 years old (Gen. 17:1) so his ability to strive and his natural strength is depleted.

God reassures him that he is “El Shaddai”–the all sufficient one– the God who is enough. When you are weak then you find your strength in God (2 Cor. 12:10). Our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. 3:5).

D. Greater Than His Flesh– Gen. 18:1-13 (v14=God’s answer]

Our ability to serve the Lord and to walk in His will is never measured simply by our circumstances and what we feel we are able to do. Abraham was older now than he had ever been.

According to Genesis 17:17 he is at least 100 years old and Sarah is 90 years old. Yet Hebrews 11:11 reveals that Sarah also believed God because she “judged him faithful who had promised.”

When you cant depend on your family, you are overwhelmed by your foes, overcome with the wrong kind of feelings, and overburdened with the weakness of your flesh— REMEMBER there is nothing too hard for the LORD!

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II. The Assurance of the Saint– (promise from the Lord)

We are living in an hour when people are talking themselves into a state of discouragement and depression. Certainly the compromise of churches, the coldness of Christians, and the climate of the country all do not give encouraging impressions upon the heart.

However, they still do not limit God! We see the resurgence of liberalism in morals, modernism in relation to the Scriptures, and ecumenism among some who claim to be Bible believing Baptist’s.

There is an apathy among even Bible believing people that is enough to discourage any pastor. But God is still ABLE! We can still have a heart for God– our headquarters are in Heaven and God is still on the throne. Tom Malone said years ago that this text has in it some powerful truth for us as Christians. His basic headings are so practical I believe we need to hear them again.

A. No Promise Too Hard For God to Fulfill– 2 Cor. 1:20; 2 Pet. 3:9
There is a great range of promises in the Holy Bible. We see them in both Testaments and from Genesis to Revelation.

The first promise is concerning the Savior’s first coming (Gen. 3:15) and the last promise is concerning the Lord’s Second Coming (Rev. 22:20).

Some of these promises are conditional (Prov. 3:5,6) and some are unconditional (Jn. 14:2,3). God’s promises will meet our temporal, spiritual, physical and spiritual needs. The respectability, range, reach and the reliability of God’s promises are all found in 2 Cor. 1:20.

1. The Respectability– “promises of God”
2. The Range– “all the promises”

3. The Reach– “in Him”

4. The Reliability– “yea…amen”

The question is “How long has it been since you’ve claimed one of those promises for yourself.” How long has it been since you said to your Father– this is the promise that I’m standing on and I will not let go until you bless me with it.
B. No Prayer Too Hard For God to Answer– Jer. 33:3, Eph. 3:20

Jeremiah said for us to call unto the Lord and he would show us great and mighty things. We are to expect great things from God and ask God for great things.

The watchfulness of faith is linked to waiting upon God in prayer. We watch and pray and ask God for great things because He is able.

In days prior I have asked God to help me with my “spiritual vision” for the ministry here.

And though everything has not developed as I expected I can see the hand of God in answering prayers that have gone up before the Lord.

God has added to the church, He has raised up young men to preach, he has given people with a burden to do things that are needful in the ministry, the choir is filling up, musicians that love the Lord have been added because of answers to prayer (Mt. 9:38).

God has given laborers to be soulwinners, teachers to teach, and people with such a heart for God that the work of the Gospel goes forward. To God be the glory– there is nothing too hard for God!

C. No Problem Too Hard For God To Solve– Ps. 37:3-5; Lk. 1:37

Every Christian will face battles and difficulties. Sometimes these mountains and giants really push us to our wits end. We are sometimes dwarfed by the things we have had to face.

We have faced all types of problems too numerous to mention.

We have seen problems in families, problems with finances, problems with those within and those without, but every time God is able to solve the problem and send us on our way.

Folks in our church have had problems within their family, tragedy takes place and we don’t know what to do.

The mountain looks so high we can’t scale it–its too far to tunnel through— so we just trust God to MOVE IT! God has never failed us yet. Time and time again we have watched the hand of God move and problems solved by the might of our great God!

D. No Place Where God Cant Send Revival– 2 Chron. 7:14

There have been places where the Devil has stomped his feet all over God’s people.

Immorality has crept in, indifference has overtaken, and inconsiderate people have plundered what God began in a local church. If the pastor and his people will seek God afresh for that work we can say upon the authority of God’s Word that God can and God will send Revival.

If we will follow the prescription of 2 Chron. 7:14 through our responsibility– God has promised to hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. We can experience the breath of Heaven and the power of God again! There is nothing too hard for the LORD!

E. No Person Too Hard For God To Save– Heb. 7:25

It may be your husband who will not darken the doors of the house of the Lord. It may be a brother or a sister who are cold and distant to the things of God.

It may be a relative that you have prayed about for years. It may be a neighbor or someone who lives close by, but God is able to save them every one.

The question I have is do we believe that God can save them and change them– are we willing to become a vessel, an instrument used of God to reach out to them. God is still saving sinners who have gone to the gutter-most of sin.

He is still reaching out to those who have gone as far as sin has ever made its stains and reaching down to redeem them and wash them in His precious blood– there is nothing too hard for the LORD!

Conclusion–
We have tried to answer the question given in Genesis 18:14 and we hear the prophet Jeremiah come back and say– Jeremiah 32:17 “…there is nothing too hard for thee.”

Pastor Tommy Wensil
El Bethel Baptist
Wadesboro N.C.
ebbc1@alltel.net