Is Anything Too Hard for God?

Have you noticed in your own life that God will often answer our own questions with questions He alone can ask? He did that to Abraham and Sarah when they struggled with how they would have a baby when Abraham was nearly 100, and she was 90. So God asked them: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14). It is a rhetorical question—meaning a question that has an obvious answer.

Jeremiah was also a man of strong principles and uncompromising faith in God. At a very unusual time, God asked Jeremiah to buy a piece of property that was worthless? It was in enemy hands. The Babylonians were at the gates and would soon take the city of Jerusalem. Jeremiah had accurately predicted their arrival and conquest. The prophet was in prison for preaching a message the king did not like. And, it was there in prison that Jeremiah purchased the property from his cousin for seventeen shekels (Jer 32:9-10).

When Jeremiah struggled to understand God’s plan, God responded to him the same way he had with Abraham and Sarah, “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? (Jer 32:27). God was simply reminding Jeremiah who he was, that he was the Lord God Almighty. This was not a moment of insanity on the part of Jeremiah but rather an audacious faith.

This whole idea of buying this property that seemed to be utterly worthless was God’s idea. Jeremiah was obedient and even prayed about it before doing it, but he wondered why God would ask him to make such a risky investment? Jeremiah wondered what was God up doing? Are you really sure, Lord, this is what you want? However, amid this chaos, God asked Jeremiah to buy the property. Everyone knows this is not the time to make a real estate deal, but Jeremiah had learned to obey God whether he understood or not.

God did indeed have a plan—he always has a plan, and we will be part of it when we can trust him. But what was important for Jeremiah and Abraham and Sarah was to be obedient. They had learned to obey even when they didn’t understand the plan. God planned to save his people, which is the same for us today. Jeremiah writes the plan:

They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul (Jer 32:38-41).

God promises to be your God and you to be his people. It is the invitation to enjoy a wonderful romance with God. Nothing can compare to it. You long for something in life, but you do not know what it is. You seek for it in relationships, but you do not find it. You try to discover it in recreation or adventure, but it always eludes you. It is this you seek—God’s friendship. You were made to belong to God. He has promised to be your God, and he wants you to be his people.