Nothing Too Hard

Read: Jeremiah 32:16–24

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

Jeremiah prayed these words when obedience made little sense. Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonian army, Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guard, and yet God had told him to buy a field (Jeremiah 32:6–15). Matthew Poole observes that Jeremiah “was not without his perplexities.” He obeyed God, but still prayed for clearer understanding. Faith does not mean that we always understand what God is doing. Sometimes we obey before we understand, trusting the promise: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Significantly, Jeremiah begins his prayer not with Babylon but with God: “Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth.” He remembers God’s power in creation and his mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt. When the present is bewildering, faith remembers God’s faithfulness in the past: “I will remember the deeds of the LORD” (Psalm 77:11). Difficult seasons can remind us that even life’s good gifts cannot provide our deepest security. In uncertainty, we may discover anew how much we need God and learn to rest more deeply in the One whose faithfulness does not change.

Jeremiah then looks honestly at the siege ramps before him (v. 24). We have our own “siege ramps”—a troubling diagnosis, a strained relationship, financial uncertainty, an unanswered prayer, or a future we cannot control. Faith does not ask us to deny these realities. Instead, name what troubles you, remember where God has been faithful, place what you cannot control into his hands, and take the next faithful step he gives you. Jeremiah could not remove the Babylonian army, but he could buy the field God told him to buy. We may not be able to change our circumstances today, but we can pray, forgive, serve, wait, or simply keep trusting. Faith does not say that everything is possible for us; faith says that nothing is impossible for God. Our circumstances may be beyond us, but they are never beyond him.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, 

When we cannot see the way ahead, help us name our fears, remember your faithfulness, and place what we cannot control into your hands. Give us courage to take the next faithful step, trusting that nothing is too hard for you. 

Amen.