I love the words to this chorus that we sing in our wonderful ministry: “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable, Got any mountains you cannot tunnel through? God specializes in things called impossible, And He can do what no other power can do.” Our God specializes in things that may look impossible to us by our five senses at times, but He certainly can do what no other power can do! We can expect to receive what God has promised us from His Word.
God is the Source of our abundance, and there is nothing too hard for Him. He declares in Jeremiah 32:27: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” God Almighty is the One Who bountifully supplies our every need. All abundance that is available for us originates from God, our Father, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. There is nothing that our God is not able to do for us according to His Word!
II Corinthians 9:8:
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
Let’s read this verse out loud, emphasizing the words “all,” “always,” and “every.” It says: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” This verse is like God proclaiming from the mountaintops that He is able to be our complete sufficiency in all things!
Now let’s build even greater confidence in our God by exploring first how trusting Him involves leaning not to our own understanding; second, how He has given us access to His rich abundance in the name of Jesus Christ; and, finally, how God wants us to boldly seek Him, our Source of abundance, in all areas of life.
The Scriptures abound with examples and instructions on how to develop our confidence in the promises of God. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Abraham was a great believer who trusted God, became fully persuaded, and received abundant blessings. He decided to not lean to his own understanding, and he received the promise of God, which was that Sarah, his wife, would have a son.
Genesis 18:10-12:
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Abraham and Sarah had passed the normal time in life to have children. When Sarah heard that she would have a son, she laughed within herself. The Lord heard her and reaffirmed His promise to Abraham.
Genesis 18:13 and 14:
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Even though things looked impossible according to the knowledge available from the five senses, Abraham and Sarah eventually became fully persuaded and trusted God wholeheartedly. Sarah had a baby at about ninety years of age! From Abraham’s example, we see a foundational key. He believed that what God had promised He was able to perform.
Romans 4:20 and 21:
He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith [believing], giving glory to God;
And being fully persuaded that, what he [God] had promised, he [God] was able also to perform.
This is a good record to keep in mind when we are challenged to believe and receive from God. Is anything too hard for the Lord? The answer is simply—no!
Even though we learn many useful things from the environment and our experience, information gathered from the five senses is not always reliable or true. There is only one source of truth that is always reliable: God and His Word. This is why we want to grow in our believing so that we have more and more confidence in the detailed instructions of God’s Word and His limitless power. Looking at two records about Simon Peter will help us see what it means to trust God and not make judgments based solely on information we gather by our five senses.
On one particular occasion, Jesus taught God’s Word from a ship belonging to Simon Peter, who was a fisherman by trade.
Luke 5:3-5:
And he [Jesus] entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
Jesus gave some specific instructions. He told Simon Peter to let down his “nets”—that is more than one net. But Simon Peter judged the situation by his personal experience and the five-senses information surrounding him. “We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing” was his response to Jesus. After hours of labor, he and other seasoned fishermen had not caught any fish, so Simon Peter only let down one net. Let’s watch this develop….
This is an excerpt from the July/August 2006 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2006 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
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