Is Anything Too Difficult for God?
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Jeremiah 32:26-44
In the first part of chapter 32 we learned that Jeremiah had an opportunity to buy his cousins field. From a human point of view it wasn’t a very good investment. Jeremiah was in jail and the land was occupied by the Babylonians. It wasn’t a good time to buy but God told him to so Jeremiah obeyed and then he prayed.
And his prayer starts out pretty well.
Oh, Lord God! You yourself made the heavens and earth by your great power and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!
Good words, but it’s as if Jeremiah doesn’t fully believe what he’s saying. As he continues praying he reveals he still has doubts. “Look!” he says in verse 24 “Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it…Look, you can see it! Yet you, Lord God, have said to me, ‘Purchase the field...’”
Jeremiah doesn’t ask the question outright we can tell he’s still wondering “God are you sure you want me to buy this field?” Jeremiah had his doubts.
And as God often does he answers a question with a question.
Answering a Question with a Question
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Look, I am the Lord, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me?
How would you answer this question? “Of course not!” we would say and of course that’s what Jeremiah would say too but he’s not living like he really believes it.
It’s interesting that God has a history of answering questions with questions.
When Jeremiah asked in Jer 12:1 “Why do all the treacherous live at ease?” God responded in verse 5, “If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” In other words, who are you Jeremiah to question my ways of doing things?
In the book of Job, Job presumes to know a thing or two about God but God responds to him with a series of questions. In Job 38:2 God asks, “Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words?…Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.”
In the book of Romans Paul explains God’s sovereignty in salvation and then responds to those who still object in...
Romans 9:19 “You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will? On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?””
Questions for those who question.
Jesus sums God’s line of reasoning up pretty well in Matt 19:26 “Jesus looked at [the disciples] and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””
Stop worrying. Nothing’s too difficult for God.
That’s simple enough for us to understand and we say it all the time but do we really believe it? If we did I don’t think we would worry half as much. I don’t think we would be so obsessed with trying to control things that we have no control over. I think we’d be more loving.
So in Jeremiah 32:27 God says, “Look, I am the Lord, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me?”
Well, what do you say? Maybe you still have your doubts so let’s look at a couple things that aren’t too difficult for God.
Punishing Sin Isn’t Too Difficult
God is completely capable of punishing sin and he has every reason to do so to the people of Israel and Judah.
From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in my sight! They have done nothing but anger me by the work of their hands”—this is the Lord’s declaration—
They had done “nothing but what is evil” and this is no exaggeration. Verse 32 goes on to say that everyone— “their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem” were doing evil.
And that’s what we do too. As Romans 3:10 says “There is no one righteous, not even one.”
So sin and idolatry were rampant in Jeremiah’s day just as they are today. We may be more sophisticated in our idolatry and more clever in hiding it, but we like to add things to our worship of God just like the Israelites did.
We worship God and things like power, fame, wealth, or popularity. It’s not that we literally bow down to these things but it’s in our nature to pursue them above all else even if it means sacrificing the worship of God alone and doing what he commands.
That’s what Israel and Judah were doing. They had created a culture that benefited the powerful at the expense of the weak. In it’s extreme manifestation they were literally sacrificing their sons and daughters in the fire to the false god Molech.
Now we don’t do that but our nation does literally abort thousands of innocent babies each year. And while public sentiment seems to be shifting, and laws might be changing, there are still those who celebrate abortion like those this last week outside the Supreme Court cheering as the swallowed abortion pills.
As it says in verse 35 this kind of disregard for the weak and helpless is detestable to God. He has never condoned such sinful actions.
Sin is sneaky. We justify it. We excuse it. We even celebrate it as if to taunt God to do something about it.
But God is all powerful and it’s not too hard for him to punish sin. He may be patient but he must and he will punish sin.
Israel and Judah probably thought they were going to get away with murder. Maybe they thought God didn’t have it in him. Maybe they thought God had gone soft and wasn’t capable of giving them what they deserved. If that’s what they thought they were completely wrong.
Here’s what God said would happen and what eventually came to pass.
The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come and set this city on fire. They will burn it, including the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to anger me.
The very places that their sinful acts were commited became the focus of God’s wrath. Everything that God said would happen came to pass even though he warned them.
They have turned their backs to me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline.
We shouldn’t turn our backs on God. God is fully capable of punishing those who sin against him, and he will. Punishing sin isn’t too difficult for God.
And...
Saving Sinners Isn’t Too Difficult
Now what Jeremiah says next in verse 36 doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense at first.
“Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’:
So far so good— it makes sense that Israel has sinned and must be punished. Israel deserves it and God’s righteousness demands it. Therefore, God’s people will be handed over to Babylon— but that’s not the end of the thought.
Verse 37 goes on to say “Therefore...”
I will certainly gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in my anger, fury and intense wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.
What? God is saying “You are despicable sinners and I am going to destroy you in my wrath; therefore, I will never stop doing good to you.”
Humanly speaking this makes no sense and it doesn’t even seem possible. How could people who have rejected God and done such awful horrible things ever become God’s people again? It’s illogical! It’s impossible!
But all things are possible with God. Is anything too difficult for God? Nope. Not even saving sinners is too difficult and that’s what God promises and what God does.
In verses 37-41 God promises to save his sinful people by...
Bringing them home (37)
Making his people his own (38)
Giving his people a new heart (39)
Making an everlasting covenant with his people (40a)
Enabling his people to persevere (40b)
Rejoicing over his people (41)
I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all my heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land.
Is anything too difficult for God? Nope, not even saving sinners is too difficult. God rejoices because he loves to do what seems impossible.
So, do we believe it?
Intellectually, we know it’s true. We know nothing is impossible for God but still sometimes we have our personal doubts.
If you’ve ever felt this way, the end of chapter 32 is for you. Remember, Jeremiah was obedient in buying the land God told him to buy, yet he had his doubts and finished his prayer asking an implied question. Perhaps he was afraid to say the words out loud but he was wondering “Can you really turn this worthless land into a good investment?
God’s direct response to Jeremiah is in verse 42...
“For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this terrible disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them.
God says nothing is too difficult for him. He can punish sinners and he can save them.
Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It’s a desolation without people or animals; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’
This was the Lord’s declaration directly addressing Jeremiah’s concern that his land had been handed over to the Chaldeans. God said just as surely as I can and will punish sinners, I will also make everything good.
Sometimes it’s easier to believe in God’s power to make everything good for others but when it comes to our own personal situations we doubt.
It think that’s the way Jeremiah felt. He knew that nothing was too hard for God and he even acknowledged it when he prayed but it was as if he still didn’t quite believe it when it came to his own situation.
So God reassures Jeremiah about his investment.
Fields will be purchased, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed, and witnesses will be called on in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in Judah’s cities—the cities of the hill country, the cities of the Judean foothills, and the cities of the Negev—because I will restore their fortunes.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
Even though God is speaking of a general restoration his words seem to also be directly pointed at Jeremiah. Jeremiah had purchased land and had the documents written on a scroll and sealed as instructed. Would he lose his investment? No, it was the Lord’s declaration that all of his fortune would be restored.
So we shouldn’t doubt the power of God in our lives. Maybe we doubt that God will ever heal us. Maybe we doubt that there will be anything good to come out of what we have to keep enduring. Maybe we feel like we’re slaving away at work without anyone noticing. Or maybe we have a loved one who’s salvation seems impossible.
Whatever it is, remember that nothing is too difficult for God. This is true. It’s true for all of God’s people and it’s true for you, too!