Last 5 Days
Is there anything too hard for the Lord?
1 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
When God called Abram in Genesis 12 to leave Ur, God promised Abraham that He will bless Abraham the promised land and also to make him a great nation. In the process of being refined by God, Abraham continued to meet with faith challenges, and all those trials which he experienced were to deal with the theme of ‘land’ and ‘seed’. Abraham had to deal with these two questions: Where is this land God had promised? Through whom will Abraham become a great nation?
In chapter 18, the story began with the arrival of three visitors, of which one, Abraham soon realised, was God. Being a good host, Abraham showed great hospitality by offering a resting place for the visitors to rest and to have their stomach filled. After which he realised that the intent of the visit was for Sarah. The three visitors asked Abraham, “Where is Sarah your wife?” (v9) The Lord promised Sarah that she will have a son a year from then.
As a response, Sarah laughed. Biologically, Abraham and Sarah were old in age, and her biological cycles has ceased. Sarah has long passed the child bearing age and biologically, it was impossible for Sarah to give birth to children. A similar thing happened to Abraham in chapter 17 when God promised him a child, Abraham laughed as well.
Sarah’s laughter reflected her view of God: there were things that God cannot change, and old age child birth was one such matter. To that, God replied, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” This was not spoken by any man as a declaration of faith, it was God’s revelation of His nature. There was nothing too hard for God to do. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that even though they have crossed the biological age of having a child, God will turn the things that are impossible to be possible. There was nothing that was beyond God’s supernatural power. Just like what God did in the beginning of time, He created out of His Word. God, who is faithful, was going to fulfil His promise to Abraham that he was going to have a seed that came directly from Sarah.
Dear brothers and sisters, there are many things in our lives that are seemingly impossible from the humanly point of view. It is true from human observation that it will be impossible for a woman to give birth after her menstrual cycles ceased. But God tells us that impossible is nothing to Him, and He is able to make the impossible possible. This is where the leap of faith to trust God beyond human logic is necessary. This is the place where we need to let God be God and take charge of our impossible circumstances.
We continue to face impossibilities in our lives. It is impossible for our old and stubborn parents to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. It is impossible for me to turn around from my financial situation. It is impossible for me to find a spouse at my age. It is impossible to reconcile the broken relationship with my spouse. Indeed God is sovereign and He has His own time to decide what is ultimately good for us, but nothing is impossible for Him.
The first stanza in the song What a friend we have in Jesus says:
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
That is why we can live our lives anxiety free and be at peace when we trust that He is in full control and nothing is impossible for God. Dear brothers and sisters, what are the impossibilities in your lives? Would you bring it to the Lord in prayer and tell Him your fears and concerns? Submit to Him and wait upon Him to lead you.