Gen 18:14, "Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." 
	Last week, we began to look at this passage in terms of the providential hand of God as demonstrated in the Old Testament. We traced it from Moses through Daniel and several of the prophets. We determined that this question, Is anything too difficult for the Lord… is one that requires a personal commitment and understanding of the ways of God in our individual lives. It is not enough to just accept this in theoretical or theological terms. The answer to it must become the very basis of our lives on this earth. It is in answering this question, in each of our hearts, that God makes Himself very real and personal and living to us. 
We will pick up this consideration with the Prophet’s declaration in Zech 8:6-8. "Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?' declares the Lord of hosts." Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them back, and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem, and they will be My people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.' 
This passage highlights the great issue that we must conquer as God’s people. Far too often we base our decisions as to what must be done in the understanding that we have of the issues involved. We try to look at the trials and the circumstances and the situations through our human comprehension and discernment, without seeking after what God intends to do in the midst of each condition. We make the pronouncement that we must act to the best of our abilities thereby not trusting God to do what He needs to do in us and in others by that very tribulation. 
Rather than trust God, we flounder in the pitiful manner of trying to overcome each adversity with the feebleness of our humanity rather than in the over abiding supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. As we will read over and over again in His Word, we are encouraged to trust rather in the power of God to overcome all the trials and the adversities of this life.
Please turn to 1 Cor 2:4-9 and read together the Apostle Paul’s admonition to us. 1 Cor 2:4-9. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him." 
	We do not know and neither will we ever, in this life, fully understand all that God has in His heart of love toward us in Jesus Christ. What we need to know is that we can trust Him to prove Himself over and over again for the sake of His testimony in our lives. 
	Now please turn to 1 Pet 1:3-9 as the Apostle Peter recounts what should be our heavenly perspective in every trial and gives God the glory for all that He has done. 1 Peter 1:3-9Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. Amen.
	We need to ask the Lord to give us that new vision of why and how things happen in our lives. We are not being punished for things that we did in our sinful nature. We are not under the hand of a terrible God Who looks at every indiscretion with anger and malice and a need for retribution. He is not a god who will give us a flat tire if we swear or curse. There are sadly, many, many Christians who are encumbered with these types of thoughts because they have no true understanding that God is mightily at work in our lives to purify us and to establish us in the surety that He has all things well in hand.  
There seems to be little no understanding that we are no longer under the fancies and the whims of this age, lost in ignorance and superstition. Rather, we are now, even this moment to recognize and to enjoy the fruits of our heavenly citizenship in Jesus Christ. Phil 3:20+21, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. 
All that comes our way is under the direct hand and guidance of God to complete a perfecting work in us. Of course we will reap what we sow and we will face that disappointment and the groaning of God’s Holy Spirit if we choose to deny Him and to refuse to obey Him. But He will continue to work mightily in our lives to the point that we want to do nothing other than to serve Him. He will makes Himself so fully known to us that we will only want to honor Him and to be a truer witness unto others of the grace and the mercy and the joy of the Lord. That harmonious heart after God is what is instituted as we go through each trial and circumstance with our eyes set firmly on the Lord to do as He will, no matter what the cost to us. 
	Our Lord Jesus Christ so heartens us in Matt 19:26. And looking upon them Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." I wonder how many of us can state, without hesitation and without any qualms or wavering that we know this in reality? Or, is this simply one of those verses of scripture that only sounds nice to read in times of extreme difficulty, because there is doubt in our hearts as to its absolute validity? This is the very core of what we must seek the Holy Spirit to establish in our hearts and minds! We must be brought to the place where we are unhesitant and unwavering in our complete reliance upon God in this truth. …with God all things are possible… No doubt, no uncertainty, no question, no fear of the unknown, no ambivalence or vagueness. Our very salvation rests on the certainty that …with God all things are possible! Amen.
It is in the power of this truth that we know that Jesus Christ was sent, by the Father, to die for our sins. It is in the power of this truth that God raised Him from the dead on that third day. It is on the basis of this fact that the Apostle Paul writes, in Eph 2:4-7, But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The every fiber of our being should seek to offer up to God thanksgiving and honor and adoration for the manner in which He so saved us unto Himself for His glory and the testimony of His goodness and His grace and His mercy. None of it would ever be possible apart from His incomprehensible capacity to save to the uttermost those whom He foreordained to deliver. Rom 8:29-31, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 
These are not just great sounding scriptures which deal with the theoretical stance of what Christianity should be! These are the declarations of the all-powerful God to us who believe and who know Him in the power of His saving work and His splendor and His magnificence! 
Again, we listen to the Apostle Paul as he gives the description of what our lives will become when we truly believe in the all-encompassing power of God proven over and over again in  our walk on this earth. Phil 4:11-13, Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 
This was not an idle boast on his part. He knew that he could do and face all things through Christ Jesus. He was never intended nor was he ever expected to be strong and courageous and insightful and brilliant on his own part. He learned, through the things that he suffered, that God would never forget nor forsake him. Paul was thoroughly convinced in the One to Whom he had committed everything. He lived in the truth that God’s plan and purpose, no matter what the road, would always lead to the glory of God in Jesus Christ! Please turn to 2 Tim 1:8-12. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 
	It is the Apostle Paul who returns our thoughts back to Abraham as he recounts the living faith that Abraham had in the Word of God to do all that He so promised. Rom 4:20+21, yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 
Just as Abraham believed the Word of God, just as Paul learned to utterly rely upon God for his everything, just as we saw with Moses and with Jonathan and with the Psalmist and with Daniel and all those prophets, God is far, far more than just a deity of convenience! He is the living and the All-powerful God in Whom is life now and forever! He will do all that He has promised to do in Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son. It brings Him utmost joy and glory as we come to know Him in that living relationship in our lives as we sojourn in this realm, enjoying the peace and the rest of His might, even in the midst of the most seemingly destructive of earthly gales and storms.  
	The Prophet encourages us in this in Zeph 3:17. "The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. This is the God Whom we serve with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might and with all our mind. As we face the difficulties of this age, let us do so in the confident assurance and conviction that God is able to save beyond all our human understanding! If we don’t know this yet, ask Him to so guide us into such a living knowledge of Who He is in the mighty display of His power in our lives. 
Remember, we were never, ever intended to face anything but adversity and trial and tribulation in this realm. Any Christian who thinks that we are called to the easy life has no depth of realization into the very principle of daily denying ourselves, picking up our crosses, and following Christ. And, any Christian who thinks that we are to so serve God daily in the power of our might does not yet understand that we are called to be living sacrifices to the glory of God on this earth.
	Let us ever continue to echo the praise of the Apostle Paul in Eph 3:20+21. Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. So be it!
"Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Num 6:24-26. The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.' Amen.