Is Anything Too Hard For Me?

There are times when you and I wonder if our prayers are heard and whether they will ever be answered. Doubt creeps in and covers us like an itchy, well-worn blanket, pulling our focus away from where it should be and onto things void of faith.

Recently I experienced one of those doubt-filled moments, tiptoeing along the line of questioning my belief in a God whom I know not only hears my prayers but indeed answers them. It left me with an empty feeling.

Soon after, I was reminded once again of God’s faithfulness and how He can use simple words to shift our focus and get us back on track. This reminder came during a conference hosted by our church.

The speaker, Banning Liebscher, said this:
“One of the practical things which gets us into faith, keeps us in faith, and increases our faith is the act of remembering what God has done.”

Although remembering what God has done is crucial, it may be even more important to remember who He is. God wants us to know Him as provider, healer, and faithful Father - one who is completely trustworthy.

Just as a runner or cyclist tracks mile markers along a course, you and I must mark the mile markers in our own lives - the moments when God answered prayer.

It is human nature to focus on prayers that were not answered in the time frame we expected. Yet when we pause and look back, we can see repeatedly how He has had our backs and answered far more prayers than we often realize.

Amid our doubts, God states His case bluntly:

“I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?”
(Jeremiah 32:27 NLT)

When we take time to survey the landscape of our lives, it should not be difficult to find multiple reminders of what the Lord has done for us simply because of who He is: our Father.

When we choose to remember, we strengthen our faith muscles and mark the moments of faithfulness He has orchestrated throughout our lives.

When we partake of communion we are admonished to “do this in remembrance of Him”.

I’ll take a walk down Remember Lane and share a couple of answered prayers that have carried me over the years and reinforced my trust in a prayer-answering God.

As a young couple during our senior year of college, Jackie and I went window shopping for engagement rings. We had sincerity in our hearts, but very little money in our pockets.

By the end of the day, we were disappointed, so we sought counsel from a trusted neighbor who served as a mentor to us.

That evening during a prayer meeting she hosted in her home we shared our simple request - that God would somehow supply the funds for a ring if we were meant to purchase one at that point in time. We never mentioned the amount needed.

At the close of the meeting, a woman quietly handed Jackie a check for the exact amount of the ring. Two days later we were engaged.

Was it a need? No.

Did God give us the desire of our hearts? Absolutely.

Remembering that moment has sustained us countless times over the years.

Another answered prayer came from a place of desperation. I share it vulnerably in the hope that it might encourage you.

It was the fall of 2009, and I had recently started a new job at a healthcare brokerage firm. On the surface, a modest pay raise helped - but it did not address the elephant in the room. We were swimming in approximately $46,000 of non-mortgage debt, half of it from credit cards.

How we arrived there is not as important as this: we had acted out of fear at times and were unprepared for that stage of life. I can assure you that the debt did not occur on frivolous spending.

One Sunday night I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep. Anxious thoughts were swirling through my mind. I decided to get up and pray, asking God for help and direction. I had left my Bible in the bedroom and didn’t want to risk waking Jackie, so I turned on the computer.

I found myself on a ministry website I was familiar with that offered resources on personal finances. One of their links directed me to Ramsey Solutions, Dave Ramsey’s organization.

In that moment I discovered something powerful: HOPE.

There was a path forward. It would not be easy, but it was a road we could travel.

We obtained the materials and began the journey of reducing and eliminating our debt.

Fast forward to October 20, 2010.

We had been on that journey for a little over a year. I remember thanking God for the hope He had given us and for the progress we had made. While thanking Him, I asked Him to accelerate the process.

Specifically, I prayed:

“Lord, I thank you for helping us over the past year. I am asking you to accelerate the progress and I don’t care how you do it.”

Beware of dangerous prayers.

The next day, during my lunch hour, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread. As I walked from my car toward the entrance of the store, a woman backed her car into me. I ended up underneath the back of her vehicle with the rear wheel inches from my chest.

I was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors determined that I had suffered a rotator cuff tear.

We eventually sought legal advice and because of the incident, received a settlement in September 2011 that paid off all but $3,000 of our debt.

As I write this today, I realize it has been thirteen years to the day (March 6, 2013) since God enabled us to pay off that final $3,000.

We have been debt-free ever since.

And we remain deeply grateful as we remember how God met us through a heartfelt and admittedly crazy prayer.

As I end this post, I hear the whisper of Holy Spirit reminding me of the lyrics of a classic hymn helping me to remember.

“How can I say thanks for all that you have done for me? Things so undeserved that you gave to prove your love for me.  The voices of a million angels cannot express my gratitude. All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.”

When God asks the question, “Is anything too hard for me?” the undeniable answer is no.

Can you remember what God has done in your life and allow those memories to strengthen your faith?

If you care to reach out, I would love to join you in remembering.