Is There Anything Too Hard for God?

Have you ever been in a position where you found yourself doubting the Lord? Be honest. Unfortunately, it happens to the best of us. When we want something badly, if it doesn’t happen in OUR timing we can start doubting the voice of God. The bible tells us to walk by faith and not by sight, but in our storms/battles/challenges, sometimes it becomes difficult to do so. When we begin to focus more on our desires than on the word and promises of God, we usually find ourselves forgetting His promises, because we’ve made that desire an idol. If we aren’t careful, we’ll start drawing away from God, giving way for the devil to take control of our minds.

I’m going to share my story with you. I had applied for a position at work that the Lord promised I would get. I was successful in my application and was invited to do some testing. Prior to getting to this point, I had faced so many challenges along my journey. This was something that my heart truly desired. I trusted God and believed His promises concerning me, but I found myself getting anxious for the results. I wasn’t too confident about my results, as it was one of those tests that you couldn’t study for. The lack of not knowing how I did made me so nervous. I was so anxious to the point where I couldn’t even hear God clearly.

However, in my anxiousness, I meditated on the following scripture that says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” -Philippians 4:6-7 NLT and practiced leaving everything at the feet of Jesus. I was open and honest with the Lord on how I was feeling, and I asked Him to strengthen my faith. Every time I would get anxious, I spoke to my Daddy and I would feel His peace. However, months had passed and I still had not received my results. The wait for the results worked up an anxiousness in me I never knew was possible. 

Never have I ever been this anxious for something… this bothered me. I knew what God had shown me. I knew what He had brought me through to get to this point, yet, I was still anxious. In these moments, I never realized that I was actually doubting God. During my fellowship with the Lord one night, God showed me that I was doubting Him. Of course I was taken aback, because I didn’t even realize that I was doubting God where this desire was concerned. But upon introspection, I realized that I wasn’t confident that I would succeed, despite the Lord telling me that I would. 

When I realized my behaviour, I had to repent. There was an unexplainable peace that came over me when I resolved in my heart to just leave it all up to the Lord and fully TRUST HIM. God’s promises would come to pass in HIS time. He is not man that He should lie or the son of man that He should repent. If He said it, He’s going to do it! I needed to just be patient and know that everything was in His hands. It was already done and written in heaven! I asked the Lord to lead me to a passage in His word that would speak to my circumstances, and I was led to Jeremiah 32.

Jeremiah 32 is about a time where God had planned to hand Jerusalem over to the Babylonian army due to their sins against Him. King Zedekiah placed Prophet Jeremiah in prison due to his prophecy/ warning that the Lord was going to hand over the city to the King of Babylon. Imagine being in a position where you are telling the King of a people whom God had blessed and taken out of Egypt that they were going into exile? This was a tough message to deliver and it clearly wasn’t received well.

After Jeremiah had given the warning prophecy to King Zedekiah, the Lord said something to Jeremiah that caused him to doubt what he was hearing. The scriptures say, “At the time the Lord sent me a message. He said, ‘Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’ Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, ‘Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord.” – Jeremiah 32:6-8 NLT.

To put this text into perspective, the Lord had been speaking to Jeremiah telling him that because of the sins of His chosen people, it was a sure thing that He was handing over His people and promised land to their enemy, the Babylonians. At the same time, Jeremiah was being directed to purchase his cousin’s property. Here we see Jeremiah, a powerful major Old Testament prophet finding himself doubting God’s voice. He must have been thinking that he too was going to be captured, after all he was in prison. If he was not going to be free to enjoy the property, why then should he purchase it? The Lord knew that this word would cause doubt, and in His faithfulness and sovereignty He sent Jeremiah’s cousin to him to confirm His word.

The Lord’s direction wasn’t in vain. He came with a message of hope that he wanted to deliver to Jeremiah and the people of Jerusalem. Jeremiah purchased the field in the presence of witnesses and the Lord spoke to Jeremiah again requesting that the record of purchase be placed in a pottery jar so that it would be preserved for a long time. This was to provide hope to Jeremiah and God’s chosen people that they would someday own, as well as buy and sell property in the promise land again.

Jeremiah acknowledged God’s faithfulness and began to worship Him through a beautiful prayer (Read Jeremiah 32:17-25 for the full prayer). After the beautiful prayer and worship, the Lord said to Jeremiah, “I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” – Jeremiah 32:27 NLT.

This particular scripture stood out to me so powerfully, hence where I got the title for this message. Is there anything too hard for God? Here I was so anxious about passing the test as though God wasn’t with me the whole time. The Lord had ordered my steps to this point so why was I worried? God began to deal with my heart in such a loving way, removing all ounces of doubt and worry from me.

Going back to Jeremiah, the Lord showed him how the take over would happen and then He gave the following promise, “I will certainly bring my people back again from all the countries where I will scatter them in my fury. I will bring them back to this very city and let them live in peace and safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God”. – Jeremiah 32:37-38 NLT. What an assurance! Through all of this, Jeremiah probably determined that he too would be exiled, but in the chapters following, the Lord gave Jeremiah freedom for his faithfulness. 

All this to say, when I finally got the results of my test, I had passed and I did much better than I imagined. I was also offered the position (which of course I accepted) - this position was a promotion. God had my back the whole time but Satan wanted to hinder my blessing. I’m so glad I have an intimate relationship with God because it was both His rhema (written) and logos (spoke) word that got me through this time.

I pray this message encourages you. If you are going through a tough season where you may be doubting the promises of God over your life, I want to move you to walk by faith and not by sight. Our God is so faithful. He will never leave or forsake us. Take your worries to the Lord in prayer. Stay in the Word as the Lord is always speaking to us through it. Our Daddy wants us to fully surrender everything to Him. He wants us to trust Him with all of our hearts and not lean on our own understanding. When we put Him first and acknowledge Him, we can be confident that He will direct our paths. Be blessed in Jesus name. Amen!