NO CRISIS TOO LARGE

NO CRISIS TOO LARGE!

Jer 32:17-18

17 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.

Luke 1:37

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

          Nine times in the New Testament we find the word “impossible” and usually it means “un-doable.” Only once does Jesus use the word when it means “implausible” when he says that is impossible [not likely] but that offenses will come. (Luke 17:1)

          In Genesis God tells Sarah that she will have a child. She complains that she is too old but God explains that nothing is too hard for Him. In Luke 1:37 Mary is told that she will have a child but she complains that she is too young! She has not had any sexual contact with a man. Sarah was not too old. Mary was not too young and the circumstances were not too hard for God.

          Why does God allow us to come up against so many impossible situations? Over and over in Exodus we see the phrase “that ye may know.” God needed to prove himself to a doubting people. He brought them to hunger and then provided bread. He allowed them to thirst and then produced water from a rock. He brought them to the brink of certain destruction and then parted the waters for them to cross.

          Paul and Silas found themselves in the dungeon with their feet held fast in the stocks. It was impossible, or at least implausible, that they would be freed so they did the only thing they could do. They made the best of a bad situation. One looked to the other and said: “Let’s sing!” God did the rest.

          As a young boy I remember singing a little chorus in church that went something like this…

Got any rivers – you think are un-crossable?

God any mountains – you can’t tunnel through?

God specializes in things thought – impossible!

And He can do – what – no other power can do!

Almighty God, when we have done all we can do without success, let us simply sing and trust you. AMEN