Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?

Have you ever needed to be reminded of something you already knew? We live in the information age, which means there’s more stuff at your disposal than ever before. It can lead to an information overload, where it feels like your brain has hit max capacity and sometimes things just slip out. This happens to my mom sometimes, where she has something seemingly on the tip of her tongue and she can’t quite remember what it is. It’s particularly bad with names, where she’ll be trying to tell me about someone but she can’t quite recall their name. This may be bad, but sometimes I’ll act like I don’t know who she’s talking about just to see how long it takes before she finally remembers their name.

We also live in a world where people are busier than they’ve ever been before. It’s not necessarily that we are accomplishing more than we ever have before, but there is certainly no lack of things to do, whether it’s for business or for pleasure. We have been inundated by stuff, more stuff than we know what to do with.

There’s no denying that we live in a world where people are far more interconnected and networked than they’ve ever been before. Before modern technology and transportation came around, the circle of friends of an average person was extremely limited. Most people never ventured outside of a 25-mile radius from where they were born. That’s almost unfathomable to think of today. Through social media and cell phones, I can communicate with people all over the world in a flash.

This abundance of stuff can also bring with it a large portion of worry and anxiety. I think it’s fair to say that people today have more things that they worry about than they ever have before. At times, the sheer amount of stuff we face can get a bit overwhelming. It can be too much for us to bear. However, no matter how big the world may seem to be getting or how heavy our burdens may be, there’s one thing that’s still as true today as it was back when it was written here. Intuitively, we may know this fact, but sometimes we need to be reminded of it because we’re not applying it and living it the way we should be. Sometimes we just need someone to ask us: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Of course, we know the answer to this question, but sometimes we live like we don’t know it. Sometimes we just need a helpful reminder, and that is what God gives, not just to Abraham and Sarah, but to us as well in this chapter.

[Read Genesis 18:1-15, pray, and then explain the story up to this point]

1. The Hospitality of Abraham (18:1-8) – It is interesting to see how Abraham reacts to the presence of these guests. Two of them were angels, and one of them was the Lord. We don’t know how long it took before Abraham realized who they were, but he did not waste any time making them feel at home. He runs to meet them. He gets them some water to wash their feet and he gives them a place to sit down and relax. He prepares a meal for his guests, and as they eat, he stands by them almost like a waiter ready to get anything they need.

Abraham takes all the responsibility for providing for these guests upon himself. He did not have to do that. He had plenty of servants he could have made do all the work. He had some of them help him, of course, but he does his part as well. I think the important lesson we can take from this is that Abraham never got too big to be a servant. After all the amazing promises that God made to him in the last chapter, Abraham could have let that go to his head. He could have said, “I am now the father of many nations, and my wife is now a princess. I’ve done my part, and I’ve paid my dues. We’re too good for all this servant business. That’s below me.” He never let himself get complacent like that.

Jesus Christ had the same attitude. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus did not come to have people serve Him—although many did—but He came to serve others. The world today tries to teach us that the way to be great is to climb the corporate ladder and get to the top so you can boss everyone down below you. Many people are more interested in getting to a place where they can have people serve them so they don’t have to serve anyone else anymore. That should not be our attitude. That’s the way the world works. God made it clear that the way up is down. “Whoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

If there’s something that needs to be done around the church, do what you can to help. It may be a menial task like moving tables and chairs, but we should always desire to serve others, even in the smallest capacity. Maybe it’d be better to say “especially in the smallest capacity.” All throughout the New Testament, you can see Jesus and the apostles praise those who may have done or given something that seemed small in man’s eyes, but it is great in the sight of God. Jesus urged His disciples to be faithful in the little things, because you won’t be faithful in the big things if you’re not faithful in the little things first. Nothing should be considered too little for us.

We should also note how hard Abraham worked for his guests. If you look at the text, you can see him hurrying from place to place, getting everything set up, and working hard to provide the best meal that he could for his guests. I think this speaks of the importance of doing our best in whatever God has given us to do. Colossians 3:22-24 says, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto me; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Christians should be the hardest working people at their jobs because we have a greater motivation to be a good worker than the world does. They’re doing it for themselves or for the money. We’re doing it for the Lord and for an eternal reward. We should work at our jobs as if we’re doing it directly for God Himself. That’s what those verses are saying. Your work ethic is a testimony about the God you serve.

2. The Doubt of Sarah (18:9-12) – After the meal, the Lord turns His attention to Sarah. This would have only been a very short time after the promise He made to Abraham in chapter 17, but He reiterates the promise that he and Sarah will have a son within the next year. I think He asked where Sarah was to make sure she heard it this time, too. Her reaction to the statement is similar to Abraham’s, but the attitude behind it was different. Sarah laughed when she heard the Lord promise that she would have a son. While Abraham’s laughter was one of joy, Sarah’s laughter was one of doubt. We can tell that by God’s reactions to each. Abraham was not rebuked for his laughter the way Sarah is here.

It is interesting to note that Sarah did not laugh out loud or speak out loud. The Bible says she laughed within herself. However, the Lord knows our thoughts, so even then, we cannot hide anything from Him. Sometimes we are not so different from Sarah. We can hear a message from the Bible or we can read something in it, and while we may not openly scoff at it—We wouldn’t dare do that—we scoff at it in our hearts. We can hear something like Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” and react with, “It sure doesn’t feel like it to me.”

We can hear a great promise on prayer like Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” and we doubt it. How do I know we doubt it? Because we don’t do it. If we really believed that promise was true, we’d practice it. Our prayer lives would be so much more fervent than they are. I say “we” because I’m including myself in this. We all struggle with doubt. We might think, “It worked back in those days, but it doesn’t really feel like it’s working for me.” That’s why we need a reminder about this next thing:

3. The Power of the Lord (18:13-15) – In response to Sarah’s laughter, the Lord asks her a very pointed question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” The Hebrew phrase translated “too hard” there can mean “beyond,” “surpassing,” or “unimaginable.” In other words, He is asking, “Is anything beyond my ability? Is there something that surpasses the Lord’s power? Is there something that seems unimaginable, even to God?”

The Bible makes it very clear that the answer to that question is “No.” Those things may be beyond us. They may be bigger than we can handle. They may seem unimaginable to us, but as Jesus said in Luke 19:27, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 1:37 adds, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Ephesians 3:20 makes it very clear that nothing can surpass God’s ability. “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.” The Lord can do things that are simply unimaginable to us. It may seem impossible to you, but all things are possible to Him. Also, did you catch that last part? “According to the power that worketh in us.” That same power that makes the impossible possible is working in you. God wants to do impossible things in your life. Many times, the only reason He doesn’t is because we won’t trust Him with them.

This idea of having a baby when she and Abraham were old seemed impossible for Sarah. However, once she got this much-needed reminder that nothing is too hard for God, she bought in. Hebrews 11:11 tells us, “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” We don’t see it explicitly in the text in Genesis 18, but once the Lord hit her with that question, she knew the right answer and she responded in faith. She determined that He is the God of the impossible, and she believed He would give her a child. Sometimes we just need someone to rebuke us straight to our face to get our attention and get us to do what we should have been doing all along.

4. The Plea of Abraham (18:16-33) – The second half of this chapter is primarily devoted to Abraham’s intercession with the Lord over Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham is sometimes referred to in Scripture as the Friend of God, and this section demonstrates why he earned that title. The Lord did not have to reveal His plans to Abraham, but He chose to. Why? Look at verse 19. God knew Him. He knew certain things about Abraham were true, and He knew He could trust him with His will. The Lord knew Abraham so well that He knew what he would do before he had even done it yet. The same is true for you. What does God know about you? He knows everything about you, but if He were to say, “For I know [insert name here], that he/she will…” How would He finish that sentence?

I think there are some characteristics from Abraham’s prayer we can learn to apply in our own prayer lives as well:

A. He was compassionate – It's interesting to observe that Abraham does not just intercede for Lot, although I’m sure that was one of the factors that prompted this conversation. He could have just asked God to get Lot and his family out of there, but he did not do that. He pleaded for the Lord to spare the city for the sake of a certain number of righteous people who may be dwelling in that city. Abraham was well aware of how wicked Sodom and Gomorrah were, and he was not asking the Lord to spare the wicked because he really had no right to do that. He was asking God to spare the city for the sake of those living in it who were righteous. That would mean the wicked would be spared as a result, so Abraham was showing concern for all people in the city. He had no desire to see God’s judgment fall on all those people, even though He would be totally just in doing so.

We can also observe that the Lord was more than willing to stay His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah if He could find ample evidence to do so. God sent the two angels to investigate the situation there and determine if it was worthy of judgment. Of course, the Lord already knew the answer, but His holy justice, as well as His goodness to man, moved Him to demonstrate that He was in possession of the facts and was just in whatever He chose to do. It is also important to realize that God does not want to judge the wicked. It does not make Him happy. He does it because He is just and He must, but Ezekiel 33:11 says, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”

In like manner, we should have compassion on this lost world as it is ravaged and ruined by sin. It is easy to look at the wicked and get angry at the way they live, and I believe there is a place for righteous anger. However, we should not desire for anyone to die and go to hell, but do we really want all people everywhere to be saved? Do we want the homosexuals, the atheists, the drug addicts, the alcoholics, the thieves, the liars, the criminals to be saved? Do we truly desire that? If we do, then we need to be faithful to pray for them and to go to them when we get the opportunity.

B. He was specific – He did not communicate in generalities. He specifically gave God a number and pleaded it all the way down to the specific number of ten. Sometimes our prayer lives feel weak because we pray too generally. We may ask God to bless the missionaries, but how would we even know how He answered that prayer? This is part of the reason we read these prayer letters on Wednesday night, so that you can pray intelligently and specifically for these missionaries. I think when we fail to be specific, it’s because of a lack of faith because some part of us is afraid that the Lord either won’t do it or can’t do it. Let’s not be afraid to ask for specific things. Ask for specific people to be saved. Ask for specific needs in your life and the lives of others to be met in specific ways. Don’t be afraid to have a detailed conversation with God. Abraham wasn’t. Do you think that bothered God? I don’t get a sense of impatience or frustration from the Lord here.

C. He was persistent – Abraham kept asking and kept asking God for more and more. He already knew that nothing was too hard for God, so that must also mean that nothing is too much to ask. Have you ever been afraid to talk to somebody or ask someone for a favor because you feel like you’ll be bothering them if you do? I think sometimes we treat the Lord like that, like we don’t want to bother Him or something. However, He delights in hearing from you. He wants you to speak to Him. He wants you to ask for things.

John 16:24 says, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” Jesus is inviting us to ask Him for things. Don’t be afraid to ask. I quoted Matthew 7:7 earlier, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” In the Greek, the idea is, “Ask and keep on asking; seek and keep on seeking; knock and keep on knocking.” Be persistent. Don’t give up so easily. Remember that God is often working in ways that we cannot see.

D. He remembered the nature of God – Abraham knew he could ask for what he was asking for because he knew who God is. In verse 25, he asks the question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I said before that sometimes we need people to remind us of stuff, but God never needs to be reminded of anything. This is merely Abraham acting on the basis of knowing that the Lord is the Judge of all the earth, and He will do right.

We can ask for certain things from God because we know who He is. We come to Him in prayer because we know He is loving, good, and just. It’s a good thing to bring up things you know about God in your prayer. It will reinforce your faith. It is good to bring up promises you’ve read in the Bible and claim them as you pray. God does not need to be reminded, but we do.

I know this message has probably seemed all over the place and rather haphazard. We’ve covered a pretty broad range of topics tonight, but this is what the Lord laid on my heart to convey to you all tonight. I hope something that was said tonight was a help to you in some way.