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Nothing Is too Hard

             “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17)

Some would mock this statement by suggesting that God should make a rock so big that He cannot lift it or make a square circle. I’ll grant, it’s very likely God can’t do those things, but if He were to decide to try, the person challenging him couldn’t stop Him. Experience has shown me that God doesn’t waste His time on such foolishness.

Others would suggest that this means God should be able to make it so everyone goes to heaven, or that no one can sin. This challenge is less foolish because there’s a shred of real logic involved. Yes, God could make it so everyone goes to heaven. Then those who have lived a life of rejecting God would be forced to endure Him on a moment-by-moment basis, meaning that Heaven would be turned into Hell for that person.

He could have made it so no one can sin. All it would require is to take our personhood away from us, to deny us the right or ability to make any decisions. He could have locked us in little virtual reality booths so that we could be as nasty as we want to be without ever actually hurting anyone. But in the long run, those things would not teach us to be good people.

But when Scripture talks about God’s omnipotence, people like Jeremiah aren’t taxing  heir brains in search of some ridiculous absurdity that will let them giggle at God and those who believe Him. They’re dealing with real life problems. After the declaration above, Jeremiah summarized the history of God’s blessings and Israel’s failures, ending with his current crisis of enemies at the gates and God’s prompting Jeremiah to buy some property when the only way the ownership would be recognized is if Israel once again possessed the land so Jeremiah or his descendants could legally claim it. Despite Jeremiah’s claim that nothing is too difficult for God, he seems to have been struggling with this thing. And God repeats about Himself what Jeremiah said.
          What this passage tells us is that God can accomplish His will, and that even if He allows us to go through hard times, it’s to guide us back to the One who can make things all better, when the time is right. Nothing for our benefit is too hard for Him, even if it involves our suffering.

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