SundaySeptember 13, 2009 Phone: 570.829.5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail
Message:“Prayer” Text:Jeremiah 32:17, 27
"Is Anything too Difficult for God?”
Introduction: Have you ever found yourself bogged down in the challenges of life, facing what could be called absolute impossibilities? If you are not currently in such a bind, it will not be long until you will be. If things seem a little difficult today, just wait, they'll soon be impossible! Remember this little chorus,
Got any rivers you think are un-crossable;
Got any mountains you can't tunnel through?
God specializes in things tho't impossible;
He does the things others cannot do.
How do you handle life's impossibilities? Where do you get the faith to meet these absolute impossible problems? Now, before I get into the heart of the message, let me give you several rather common misconceptions about Christian maturity.
Misconception number 1: "Because you are a Christian, all your problems are solved." Do you believe that? I hope not, because the Bible never says that. The Word of God promises that we will be new creatures in Christ; it assures us that we will have a destiny that is secure and eternal; but it does not guarantee a perfect road once Christ comes into a person's life. In fact, in some instances problems increase and the road gets rougher!
Misconception number 2: "If you are having problems as a Christian, you are unspiritual." Again this isn't a true statement. We all have problems, trials and tribulations, and you're not unspiritual because you are wrestling with a dilemma. As a matter of fact, some of the most spiritual men and women known have wrestled with some of the deepest problems life offers. Here are just a few:
Think of JOB and his suffering. (He faced the loss of family, wealth and health, a wife who said "curse God" and friends who were no help.)
Think of ESTHER and her problems. (Her people the Jews were facing a holocaust and if she was found out, she too would be slain.)
Think of DANIEL and his problems. (He lived righteously, faithfully praying and he still ended up in the Lion’s Den.)
Think of JOSEPH. (He was rejected by his family, sold into slavery, and ended up in jail.)
Think of the Apostle PAUL. (Reading II Corinthians 11, you see he was loaded with adverse situations in life, shipped wrecked, jailed, beaten, left for dead, and nearly blind.)
Think of the Apostle JOHN. (He was the most beloved of all the disciples, and yet in life he was banished to the Isle of Patmos.)
Now, let’s get back to those impossibilities. In order to put everything into the right perspective, let me give you four key passages of scripture that address the subject of impossibility. Two of them are found in Jeremiah 32, which is set in Jeremiah’s prayer and the Lord's response. The other two are found in the Book of Luke.
First: Jeremiah 32:17: In verses 17-19 we read, “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: (18) Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, (19) Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:” Notice again the last phrase of verse 17, "there is nothing too hard for thee." Do you realize that whatever thing or things you're calling "impossibilities" could be superimposed over what God says is "nothing" to Him? NOTHING!
Notice the description of God found in this passage:
verse 17, "by thy great power and stretched out arm"
verse 18, "the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of Host”
verse 19, "Great in counsel, and mighty in work."
In the Hebrew language the last part of verse 17 would read, "No, nothing, absolutely nothing for you, Lord, is extraordinary." What a statement of promise. And what a statement of promise given us in Jeremiah 33:3 where God said, "Call upon me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee GREAT and MIGHTY things, which thou knowest not."
Second: Jeremiah 32:27, Beginning in verse 27 we have the Lord's response to Jeremiah’s prayer, "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; IS THERE ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR ME?" God is asking you to substitute your impossibilities for the word "Anything." You fill in the blank. "IS ______too difficult for God?" the implied answer, of course, is: "Absolutely not. Nothing is too difficult for me."
“Preacher, you don't know my situation.” That’s true. I don't know your situation or your problem. All you and I need to know is GOD AND HIS PROMISES. He is Lord, and nothing is too difficult for Him.
In Job 36:26 we read, "Behold, God is great..."How great is your God? We often sing this hymn. Here are the first two stanzas:
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power thro' out the universe displayed.
When thro' the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How Great Thou art! How Great Thou art!
In Psalm 77:13-14 we read, "...who is as great a God as our God? Thou art the God who doest wonders..."
In Psalm 86:10 we read, "For Thou art great, and doest wonderess things: Thou art God alone."
It was the beloved Disciple John who penned this hymn of praise in Revelation 15:3-4, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name..."
As we read these passages and see the greatness of our God, we must come to the conclusion that,
OUR GOD IS GREATER THAN OUR PROBLEMS.
OUR GOD IS ABLE TO MEET THE IMPOSSIBILITIES OF OUR LIVES, AMEN!!
Why? Because "Nothing is too difficult for Him." The God of the galaxies is the God:
Who knows when your heart is broken.
Who knows when you have burdens.
Who knows when you have needs.
Who knows us personally and individually.
No wonder we read in Psalms 147:5, "Great is our Lord, and of great power; his understanding is infinite."
Third: Luke 1:37. We move from the passages in Jeremiah on to the Gospel of Luke 1. In an answer to Mary's question concerning her conception. An angel appeared to her and said, "You are going to bear the Christ-child." She asks, "How can this be, since I am a virgin? How is that possible."
Follow me as I read verses 34-38, “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (35) And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (36) And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. (37) For with God nothing shall be impossible. (38) And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” Again in verse 37 is the answer we just read in Jeremiah about God. "For nothing is impossible with God." To make that statement practical, the word "Nothing" can be replaced with your situation. Whatever it is, it is not impossible with God.
Fourth: Luke 18:27: In this passage Jesus is meeting with the rich young ruler who asks “what he has to do to inherit eternal life?” Follow me as I read verses 19-26, “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. (20) Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. (21) And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. (22) Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. (23) And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. (24) And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! (25) For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (26) And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?” Now notice please verse 27 Jesus said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."
Stop for a moment. I want you to think about that which seems most impossible in your life. You have seen and read theses four promises of God. Each has said virtually the same thing: "Nothing is impossible with God."
That includes you business.
That includes your marriage and family..
That includes your health.
That includes your ministry.
That includes healing strained relationships with people.
That includes the habits you have.
That includes insurmountable spiritual impossibilities.
Now the question is, will you ask the Lord to handle that specific impossibility, and then leave it with Him in a faith that simply will not doubt?
To illustrate this, there are any number of Biblical illustrations we could have gone to. However, would you turn to a very familiar event found in John 6? This is unique for several reasons.
First, this is the only miracle mentioned in all four Gospels, so it seems to be extremely significant to the Gospel writers and certainly to the Lord himself.
Second, this is the only account in which Jesus asked the advice of someone else.
Third, this is the only time Jesus performed a miracle before such a large crowd.
Fourth, this is an absolute miracle.
Jesus has chosen His disciples and sent them out to carry out the ministry. According to Matthew, they have gone to every village in the area and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, the message of repentance. Now they have returned, physically exhausted, emotionally worn, and the Lord desires to be alone with them and to rest.
In verses 1-4 we read, “After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. (2) And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. (3) And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. (4) And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” Picture the scene. Jesus and His 12 disciples are alone on the mountain for some rest and relaxation.
In verse 5 we read,“When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” They are all tired and weary, and they want to be left alone. Jesus looked up and saw an enormous crowd approaching. According to verse 10, the number was about 5,000. Matthew 14:21 tells us it was 5,000 plus women and children. So it could be safe to say there was between 10,000 and 15,000 people. That's a lot of people with a lot of needs coming up the mountain.
Here they are in a barren place, and wouldn't you know, all these people are hungry. There were no Price Croppers markets, Redner’s or Wal-Marts in sight. The disciples don't know anyone, and they aren't aware of any source of food. IT'S AN IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION.
But that's how Jesus wanted it, because these disciples are just like you and I. "Oh, no, Lord. What on earth are we going to do?" Isn't that how we often look at things?
How are we going to handle this situation?
How are we going to meet this financial crisis?
Jesus saw it as a perfect opportunity for a miracle. It was time to go from explanation to solid reality. So He gave them a test.
The first one to take the exam was PHILIP in verse 5-6, “When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? (6) And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.”Perhaps as Judas was in charge of the finances, Philip was in charge of the supplies. Notice Jesus’ intent of Philip in verse 6, "Where are we going to find bread to feed them?" Why did Jesus ask Philip, perhaps to test him? He wanted to determine the depth of his faith, could Philip trust Jesus in the impossibility. Philip was the statistical pessimist of the group.
He had to see everything in front of him.
He had to have everything figured out.
This is evident in Philip's answer in verse 7, “Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.” You will notice Philip didn't even answer the Lord's question. The Lord had asked, "Where do we go to buy bread?" and Philip’s answer dealt with "How much. Because all we have (in our terms) is $34.00 to feed 10,000 to 15, 000 people."
All the Lord wanted Philip to say was "I DON'T KNOW. It's impossible with me, but it's nothing to you Lord, and I'm going to wait and see How my Lord is going to pull this off." But that's not what Philip said.
Philip saw only the situation, the size of the problem. He did not remember how big God is. He was more convinced of what could NOT be done than what could be done. Like Philip, isn't that the way we are:
When someone suggests a new Idea, you say, "Oh, no. That won't work."
When some situation gets worse, and you cannot handle it any longer, it never dawns on you to simply trust God.
All you can see is what can't be done.
The second person to take the test was Andrew, verse 8-9, “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, (9) There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” Andrew had one thing going for him. Any man who can talk a little boy out of his lunch must have some degree of persuasion! He approached the Lord and said, "Here are five loaves and two fishes."
But he didn't stop there. He went on, "But what are these for so many people?" Too bad he didn't stop when he was ahead. For Andrew it was "Little thinking in a big situation."
Let’s stop right here. What about your situation and mine?
You hear of the needs of the unreached multitudes. A whole world out there is desperate to know Christ. You tuck the little ones in bed at night, two, three children. "Lord they are yours, but what are these among so many?"
You don't have a whole lot of money, so you are only able to give just a few dollars month after month. You begin to calculate, "What's this among so many needs?"
You don't have a lot of time. Your work and family takes 12-14 hours a day. You want to pray more, but often it is so little time "that hardly counts."
You don't have a lot of what some may call spiritual talents.“Lord, I can't do that much in service for you, so what is the use of doing anything?”
Hold it. Maybe you don't have a lot to give, but neither did that little fellow. What he gave was all Andrew could find, and that's all the Lord needed. JUST THAT.
Now here is the miracle. Remember the story? It's as simple a miracle as it can be. Notice please verse 10-11, “And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (11) And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.”
Thefishwere little pickled fish like a sardine, not like a sea bass.
Thebarley loaveswere the size of a pancake, flat, hard, and brittle,The bread of poor people.
Jesus took these brittle loaves and tiny fishes in His hands and pulled off the impossible. The multitudes were sitting along the slopes of the mountain, and those disciples were busy passing out the food to hundreds, and then thousands.
There was Philip the statistical pessimist and Andrew the one who thought small in a big situation passing out to the crowd "all they wanted." And notice in verse 12, "When they were filled..." That's just like the Lord. Not only does He do the impossible. He does abundantly beyond all we could ask or think. He gave to those people until they had plenty. Jesus did the impossible. Remember Ephesians 3:20, (I love this verse) "Now unto Him that is ABLE to DO exceeding abundantly above all that we ASK or THINK..."