Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord?
A. W. Tozer once said the most important thing about you is what you think about when you think about God. That line is a good place to start because our theology—what we believe about God’s character and capability—shapes everything: how we pray, how we live, and how we respond when life doesn’t go the way we expect. Genesis 18 gives us a vivid drama that tests one of the most urgent questions we can think about about God: is there anything too hard for Him?
Just after God confirms His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, three visitors appear on Abraham’s doorstep. Abraham, the father of faith, leaps into action. He runs to meet them, bows, brings water, and has Sarah make bread. He kills a calf, prepares curds and milk, and serves lavish hospitality as if a five-star kitchen has been tapped into at a moment’s notice. The scene is striking, but surprisingly the theological heart of the story surfaces only after the meal is done: God repeats His promise that Sarah will bear a son. Sarah, overhearing from the tent, laughs inwardly. Ultimately this visit isn’t about how well Abraham treats visitors; it’s about how well Sarah trusts the Lord.
Remember, what you believe about God is the most important thing about you. So let’s allow Sarah’s laughter, which revealed what she thought about God, to teach us three truths about God. These truths ought to reshape our thinking and worship.
Being Everywhere is Nothing for God
As we’re thinking about an answer to the question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”, we must consider the nature of God’s presence. The Lord is a traveler! I understand this because traveling to Israel is on my bucket list. But getting there would be hard: I would need to save money, find time in our family schedule, and time off from work. Well these three visitors to Café Abraham include the Lord Himself, along with angels, and the Lord is not on holiday from His regular job. The God who sits on the throne of heaven is also present in Canaan. That ought to comfort us: what is impossible for us—being in two places at once—is effortless for God. It is not too hard for God to be worshiped by angels in the throne room of heaven and be in your room when you’re alone and afraid. It is not too hard for Him to rule and reign and meet you at your kitchen table in your grief and questions. The Lord is present everywhere with His whole being, which means He’s not just standing in the shadows observing you. He is intimately near you.
It is all too easy for God to be everywhere.
Knowing Everything is Nothing for God
Another thing that is impossible for us is knowing all things, illustrated in part by Abraham not knowing he was hosting God until after lunch was over. This narrative highlights God’s knowledge. Moses gives tiny details—where Abraham and the Lord talk, where Sarah is eavesdropping. He even repeats the promise made to Abraham about a son because he knew Sarah was listening even though she was nowhere in sight. God hears Sarah’s inward laugh before she says a word. All of these details highlight that it would have been too hard for any of us to know that Sarah could hear God, or more importantly, that God heard her. There is nothing that God doesn’t know, including when someone laughs to herself. That can be a frightening truth when we’re trying to cover things up. Sarah, in the story, tries to excuse herself when confronted—she lies and she denies—but God’s knowledge settles the matter: yes, you did.
It is all too easy for the Lord to be everywhere, and it is all too easy for Him to know everything. Our relationship with Him suffers when we assume the things that are hard or impossible for us are hard or impossible for Him.
Doing Anything is Nothing for God
Finally—and most importantly—is the truth that for God, doing what seems impossible to us, is nothing. The promise repeated in Genesis 18—the coming birth of a son to Sarah, a woman long past childbearing age—strikes Sarah as absurd. She laughs because, in human terms, it’s impossible. But the narrative insists that what is impossible for us is entirely within God’s power. This is not a promise that God will grant every whim; rather it’s a reminder that God can and does act in ways that overturn human limitations when it suits His purposes.
There are important qualifications to that truth. God will never do what contradicts His holy character—He cannot lie, deny Himself, or act unjustly. Sometimes He withholds a desire because granting it would be spiritually harmful. James reminds us that God says “no” to certain requests because they would draw us away from dependence on Him. At other times the delay is not denial but timing—what He has promised may be “too soon” for us in ways we don’t understand. Genesis 18 shows another reason for divine delay: God sometimes delights in doing what we think is uncommon or impossible to highlight His glory and remind us who He is. Sarah’s unbelief is exposed so that God’s power, not human ingenuity, gets the glory.
What This Means For Us
If you’re tempted to measure God’s love and power by whether He answers every prayer the way you ask, Genesis 18 calls you to a deeper trust. Don’t conclude that God is unloving or unkind when His timetable doesn’t match yours. Some of His delays are mercies that protect our hearts; some are for the sake of a greater display of His glory. And always remember: the things that most need to be done to restore sinners—atonement, resurrection, forgiveness—were the types of actions only God could do, and God has done them in Christ. The same power that could bring Isaac to Sarah’s womb raised Jesus from the dead and keeps sinners near to Himself.
So what does Sarah teach us? First, watch your heart when God’s promises are repeated: are you listening or laughing inwardly? Second, be honest—God knows what you mean far better than you do; confession is safer than pretense. Finally, worship a God who can do the impossible and whose delays are ordered by wisdom and love. When you feel small, remember that being everywhere, knowing everything, and doing anything—those are not strains on God; they are the very stuff of His being.
In short: nothing is too hard for the Lord—not presence, not knowledge, not action. Let that truth shape what you think about when you think about God. It will change your prayers, steady your faith, and deepen your worship.