SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 15 January 9, 2005

Is Anything Too Hard for God?
Theme: A Journey with Abraham
Theme Verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Readings: Genesis 18:9-15
Optional Readings: Genesis 17:17; Mark 9:23-24
Memory Verse: "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" (Matthew 19:26)

      Begin by rereading the first 8 verses of Genesis 18 to get the setting: Abraham has three unusual guests. He is being the perfect Middle Eastern host to 3 strangers but suddenly events took an unusual turn and Abraham senses something is different. The strangers ask him about his wife, by name! That would be startling to a modern, western person but even more so to someone like Abraham, but he senses something different so he answers—"in the tent". Enter—the LORD who tells Abraham that "I will surely return to you about this time next year" (see also 17:21) and Sarah, your wife, will have a son." (This is the first time, in vs. 10 and in 17:21 that God reveals his timing.)

      God’s times are not the same as ours. God accomplishes his purposes in his time. Many places in the Bible refer to an "appointed time", "the fullness of time", etc. Examples are Galatians 4:4, Daniel 11:27b, and Jesus’ references to his return in Mark 13:32, and the most personal, Psalm 31:15 "My times are in your hands."

      This is an encounter with Sarah, like the one Abraham had in Genesis 17:17 where he laughed in disbelief at God’s promise. Sarah too knew of God’s promise and how he had led them. "Now Sarah was listening…so Sarah laughed to herself (Yea, right!). Vs. 11 says both were old…and Sarah was "past the age of child bearing". That’s an understatement! She was 90 and he was 99! She laughed, at least partly in disbelief. The Lord calls her on it and asks, "Why did Sarah say ‘Will I really have a child?" Sarah was afraid and she lied, but the Lord gently corrected her, "Yes, you did laugh." We cannot hide from God. There are no secrets from him even if we convince ourselves that we can hide. That doesn’t change the truth. (Abraham was equally guilty here.) God sees our thoughts. Proverbs 15:26 says "The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked but those of the pure are pleasing to him." PRAYER: Lord, I want to please you in thought, word and deed. Guard my thoughts from evil.

      Sarah's thoughts (and Abraham's) were not what God wanted but God still kept his promise. That is a comfort to us when our response to God has doubt in it. He will correct us but he will still love us and will not fail to keep his promises. God will always accomplish his purposes. God is Truth and he is unchanging. How do we respond when it seems that it will take a miracle for what the Lord has said to happen? Sarah denies laughing. We are often in the same boat. Where are our areas of belief/unbelief? Word received: Do you trust Me to do what I say I will do? Sometimes you will have to trust Me before you see any results. That is the kind of faith and trust I want.

      "I will certainly return to you…" (Genesis 18:10)
Word received: I want you to be confident in the certainty of what I will do. I want you to be certain that it is what I will do that will transform your life and your circumstances.

      God’s gentle rebuke to Sarah is the heart of this lesson: "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" This is a statement from God himself. It is a question and a statement made over and over in scripture. We must not place our limits on God and what he can do. We need to be reminded many times. Sometimes we try to circumscribe God.

      Here are some examples of this truth.
1.      When the rich young ruler turned sadly away and Jesus told his disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they were "greatly astonished" and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus’ answer is our Memory Verse. Read it aloud. Jesus is showing us how to live. All things are possible with faith and trust in God. Whatever God asks us to do he will make a way for us. (We need to remember however, that God is not an indulgent grandpa. He will always answer in accordance with his will for us.
2.      Now look at the optional reading from Mark 9. Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration to discover that his disciple had not been able to heal a boy who had terrible seizures. Jesus told them to bring the boy to him and the boy falls in another convulsion. The father pleads "If you can do anything…help us." Jesus says, "IF YOU CAN? Everything is possible for him who believes." The father’s answer is a model for us. "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief." This is how God wants us to pray to ask for help when we have doubts. God is always faithful and responds when we ask for help in his own time and way.
3.      In Luke 1:34-37 when the angel told Mary that she would have a baby boy and that her elderly relative, Elizabeth, was 6 months pregnant, both were humanly impossible. But the angel says, "For nothing is impossible with God." In vs.45 Elizabeth greeted Mary’s visit with thanksgiving for her faith in God’s message, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished."
4.      In John 11:40, Jesus tells Martha at her brother’s grave, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?" Jesus raised Lazarus.
5.      In Exodus 14:11, when the Israelites saw the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind they cried out to Moses, "Why have you brought us to the desert to die?" Moses said, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today." And the Israelites walked thru the sea on dry ground.
6.      In Numbers 11:23, God answers Moses, "Is the Lord’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." This was after all the Israelites in the wilderness were wailing for meat to eat because they were tired of the miraculous manna. Moses thought "all the fish in the sea" and herds of animals would not be enough. God brought quail 3 feet deep, a day’s walk around the camp in every direction!
7.      In Jeremiah 32:17, God tell him that he should buy a field in his hometown during the siege of Jerusalem, before it fell. He obeyed and prayed, "Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power…Nothing is too hard for you." God answered (vs. 27) "I AM the Lord, the God of all mankind, Is anything too hard for Me?"
Is anything too hard for the Lord? Word received: I want you to reflect on your circumstances and honestly bring before Me all those things you thought I could not do. Will you let Me have them? Is there anything your heart hungers for that I cannot supply in My own time and way? See Mark 9:23 Word received: What are the things in your life where you have been unwilling to believe I can change? I want you to give them to Me and believe.

      God wants us to invite him into the details of our lives. It is a real challenge for us to be as honest as possible with God and ourselves. "I believe. Help my unbelief." Jesus doesn’t want us to psych ourselves up but to bring the problem to him with trust. He wants you to know that you can believe and trust him.

      "Is anything too hard for God?" The obvious answer is "Of course not." We need to make it a habit to insert our own need/problem into our question—Is this need, is this habit I’m trying to break, this communication problem –too hard for God? God loves you and wants to be involved in every aspect of your life. Ask for help—and don’t run ahead with your own solution. (Ideas in this paragraph from Life Application Bible.)

      Since nothing is too difficult for God, we should expect things in our lives to change, slowly or rapidly, to reflect his will not ours, when we turn to him. He created us. He can fix us! Even when we are doing his will we have doubts sometimes – even when we see its working.

      Peter got out of the boat and walked on water at Jesus’ bidding but then he got distracted by the wind and the waves, took his attention off Jesus, and began to sink. Jesus said, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" In this case "little" can also mean "short". Peter had faith to begin with and obeyed but it was short-lived when he focused on the circumstances and took his eyes off Jesus. (Matthew 14:31)

Teaching Ideas for Lesson 15

• Please read Study Guide first.
• Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
• Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.

Basic points of the lesson for little ones.
      1. God can do anything and everything.
      2. God wants us to trust Him with our whole lives.
      3. When God promises us something He wants us to believe He will fulfill His promise--in HIS time. His timing is always right.
      4. When we doubt, God wants us to come to Him so He can give us the faith we need to believe. He wants us to give to Him the things we have not believed He could change.