Is anything too hard for God?

 

Are you struggling through a dark season right now? Do you feel like the way you’re walking is a continual uphill climb? Are you repeatedly questioning God and finding it difficult to trust him and wait on him?

Are you guilty of complaining about God, instead of complaining to God?

Did you know that God has the solution for your exhausted soul? It comes as we rest in him.

We all face struggles, and we all face hard days that stretch into weeks and months, and we lie to ourselves that this is our story when in reality, it’s only part of our story. God is still writing our stories. His plot twists and climactic narratives are all part of his eternal plan. And yet we keep trying to steal the pen.

I have many friends that are doing it tough right now. Some are facing some really hard things. Things I’ve never had to face. Things that leave me at a loss for words in knowing how to counsel, comfort, exhort. Difficult family situations. Financial loss. Hard decisions. Health problems that are never-ending. A spiral of ‘bad luck’ as the world would put it.

The past few years have been difficult for us too and it seems the only light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train, going full speed on a collision course directed our way.

But what I love about God, is that his strength is made perfect in our weakness. 1 Corinthians 12:9.

Not only is he bigger than any problem we may face, but he knew about the problem long before it was even laid at our feet, and he had a plan and a purpose for that particular problem.

When things are difficult and darkness crowds in, I take comfort in the precious promise found in the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:20 KJV - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Sometimes, we believe that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all, but we don’t believe he’ll do it for us. Yes, he can do it, but just not for me. That’s our thought process and what a lie it is that we tell ourselves.

I think we find Sarah at this place in the book of Genesis. She waited and waited for God to make her a mother. Then God gave her the promise of a son, only to make her wait another 25 years!

And then we come to chapter 18. We read of Sarah’s disbelieving laughter. Knowing her age and time of life, it really seemed laughable that God could and would do something so miraculous like granting her her heart’s desire in the form of a child.

And then we read that beautiful verse, that can become a promise we can claim and hold onto when the storms of life become too overwhelming.

Genesis 18:14 KJV - Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

And we know the end of the story. Despite Sarah’s disbelief, she did give birth to a son and God had great plans for Abraham and Sarah’s lineage and carried out those plans just as he promised he would.

Is there anything in your life that seems impossible?

Are you facing insurmountable problems? Are there things in your life that only a miracle from God can fix?

Maybe you’ve spent hours on your knees in prayer, crying out to God, only to feel like he’s turning a deaf ear to your pleas.

When we face seasons of difficulty and we pray and pray and no answer comes, we may be tempted to believe the lie that we are beyond the reach of God. That somehow our problem is too big for God.

But it’s a lie. And if we are in his Word regularly, we’ll see that. We read over and over of impossible situations made possible by God.

When we read the story of Mary and Martha in the book of Luke, we see the Lord Jesus giving Martha a gentle rebuke and reminding her of the one thing that was needed.

The one thing was for Martha to keep her eyes fixed on him.

We can become so anxious and troubled, and we try to find solutions to our problems on our own. We try to force God’s hand. When all he wants us to do is to trust him.

We can be so guilty of complaining about God that we forget we should be complaining to him.

Psalm 62:8 KJV - Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Do you know that it’s okay to pour out your troubles to God? It’s okay to be vulnerable and hurt before him. It’s okay to let your tears spill over and cry through your prayers.

Maybe you hold it all in because you fear that he may think you are not trusting him. And doesn’t the Bible tell us not to grumble and complain?

Yes, it’s true, we are commanded to do all things without ‘murmurings and disputings’ Philippians 2:14. But we can pour out our hearts in anguish to God in a way that shows a genuine trust instead of a grumbling spirit.

Lord, I trust you enough to admit I’m having a difficult time, and these problems are overwhelming, and I know you can do something about it in your time, and I believe you won’t reject me for coming to you so raw and so hurt and so fearful.

We read of this type of prayer in the Bible as a lament. There is a whole book of the Bible called Lamentations. A passionate outpouring of grief and sorrow.

These are prayers that allow us to convey our emotions honestly and vulnerably before God. We find them all throughout the Bible. From the heartfelt cries of the Psalms to the anguished pleas of the prophets.

We find many of King David’s laments in the Psalms. But we always see him praying through his complaints and praising God at the end of them.

He pours out his anguish to God. Directly to God. Not complaining about God to others. But directly to God.

And then we see him process through the hard moments. He works through them with God’s help. Seeing his problems for what they are. Recognising the difficulties. Acknowledging his fears. Accepting his faults.

And then we see him praise God for his power when he comes through with the answers, the solutions, the miracles and the blessings.

And God always comes through. It may take some time, but he will always come through.

It takes a lot of humility and courage to be honest with God. And yet, it seems silly that it does, because he knows our thoughts and how we feel without us ever having to voice it.

But he wants us to verbalise it and cry out to him. It is in those moments that we can know God’s presence and his nearness.

David’s relationship with God was deep and he knew that he could trust God.

If you are walking close to God, you don’t need to fear being real with him. You don’t need to hold anything back. You can let it all out with God. Just tell him your fears. Life is unfair. I don’t think I can get through another day. I can’t do this anymore.

He understands. He cares. He hears. Like the old song says, “tears are a language God understands”. He keeps our tears in a bottle and in a book. Psalm 56:8.

Cry out to God. Talk to him like he is right beside you as you lay on your bed struggling with the overwhelm and the fears and the anxiety.

And something beautiful will happen. The Holy Spirit will reassure you of God’s promises. He will remind you of his care and of his love. He will remind you of his greatness and that nothing is impossible with him, and nothing is too hard for him.

Now, you may not get the answers you’ve come for, you may not see your circumstance change, but he will bring his peace to your soul. Things may have to stay messy and hard for a while, but just know that he has a plan for everything, and it is not our job to find the answers, it is our job to trust.

God is our safe place. We can trust him.

Take your cares to him and watch what he can do. Don’t wait to praise him when things are good, and the answers finally come. Praise him now, in anticipation of what he will do!

You can’t wait for the storm to pass before you give thanks to God. You have to learn to dance in the rain.

Praise him while the heart aches. Praise him while the fears overwhelm. Praise him when the answers don’t come. Praise him while the hurt presses in.

He hears you. He sees you. He loves you.

And he hears your song of praise in the night. It brings him joy and delight. It makes the blessings all the more sweet.

Psalm 43:5 KJV - Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Is anything too hard for God? No, nothing is too hard for him. God can do the impossible. If he can cause us to dance in the rain and praise him in the storm, then he can bring the solutions we need and the rest to our souls.

Jeremiah 32:17 KJV - Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:

 

Wait on him. Trust him. Love and obey him. And let him bring the answers in his time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jillian Holmes 1.2.24