Nothing Is Too Difficult for You
Nothing Is Too Difficult for You
Last week we spoke about the childhood of Moses the prophet… this poor child cast into a basket in the water, sentenced to death in a dark age… Who would have thought that this poor child would become one of the greatest prophets and leaders, and that he would become the mighty power whom Pharaoh feared, so that he cried before him, “I have sinned; pray for me, that the Lord may take away from me this plague”…
Here I remembered the saying of righteous Job: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You” (Job 42).
We look at the miserable present and find matters difficult. But if we look at the working hand of God, and at the image He has prepared for the future, our hearts would be reassured and we would say: “I know, O Lord, that You can do everything.”
Who would have thought…?!
Who would have thought that the ruined and empty earth, submerged in water, surrounded by darkness, as described in the Book of Genesis, would become our beautiful earth, adorned with stars and planets, filled with life, moving according to wondrous laws?!
If we had looked at nature on the first day, we would have despaired. But if we saw it on the sixth day, we would have said, “You can do everything, O Lord”…
Who would have thought that Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christianity, who dragged men and women to prison and was terrifying in his persecution, would turn into Paul the Apostle, the great preacher…!
Who would have thought that the “foolish of the world” and the “weak of the world,” the group of poor fishermen, could bring Christianity to the ends of the earth? Truly, O Lord, You can do everything, and nothing is too difficult for You.
Indeed, we should not look at matters apart from the working hand of God, otherwise they would appear before us dark and gloomy… Every difficult matter should be placed beside it the unlimited power of God. We do not acknowledge failure, for nothing is far from the mighty hand of God.
Who would have thought that weak Peter, who was afraid of a maidservant and denied Christ, could stand before the chief priests and elders, disregard prisons and scourging, and say steadfastly, “We ought to obey God rather than men”…!
Who would have thought that Christianity could stand before the Roman state with all its tyranny, before Nero and Diocletian, and before all the savage means of torture and all the means of temptation…!
Before the victory of defenseless Christianity in its confrontations with the emperors and governors of Rome, we say to the Lord, “We know that You, O Lord, can do everything.”
Arianus, the governor of Ansena, an example of cruelty and violence—how could he turn into a Christian and be martyred? And Longinus the soldier who pierced Christ with a spear—how could he also turn into a Christian martyr?! Truly, O Lord, nothing is too difficult for You.
Who would have thought that Arianus and Longinus would become holy martyrs?!
God is able to turn darkness into light, and evil into good. He is able to change all the course of events.
The greatest miracle the Lord performs is the transformation of the human soul, by placing within us a new heart and a new spirit…
By faith you can realize that God is able to change everything. Faith does not acknowledge despair, for in it there is continual hope and confidence that God works and changes, that He intervenes and arranges everything…
What human wisdom cannot do, the wisdom of God can accomplish. What human weakness cannot do, the power of God can accomplish…
Who would have thought that Augustine, corrupt and immoral, for whom his mother wept for a long time, would become a great saint—not only repentant, but also a source of blessing to others and a fountain of spiritual reflections for generations and generations…?!
Who would have thought that Isaac, who carried the wood and was led to death, would have descendants like the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea, and that in his seed all the tribes of the earth would be blessed? Truly, O Lord, You can do everything, and nothing is too difficult for You.
Who would have thought that the child David could prevail over the giant Goliath, before whom the whole army was powerless and stood afraid…?!
Who would have thought that Mark the Apostle could stand before all the idols of Egypt, before its Pharaonic worship, and the Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Eastern worship; and stand before all its philosophies and its famous library whose manuscripts the fire burned for six months!! And its well-known school.
And in a few years Egypt would turn into a Christian country?! Who would have thought?
He who walks in the way of the Lord feels that everything is easy before him. I admire in this the divine promise which says:
“Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain” (Zech. 4).
Faith can open a path in the sea; it can strike the rock and water will gush forth. It can turn Saul into Paul, and Arianus into a martyr. It is the mighty power that does not acknowledge the impossible… I also admire in this the saying of Paul the Apostle:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We believe that God can do everything. But that a human can do so—this is amazing…
Of course he can do everything, not by his humanity, but by the power of Christ… Faith strengthens a person, while Satan tries to weaken him by every trick.
Satan pushes a person toward despair and fear, makes him feel incapable and weak, that the world is closed before him, makes him feel the narrowness of the gate and the distress of the path, the heaviness of the cross, and that he will not advance a single step…!
But faith gives you confidence that you can do all things in Christ who strengthens you. He who transformed Saul will transform you; He who granted repentance to Augustine will grant you repentance; He who strengthened David before Goliath will strengthen you…
Fear:
Do not be afraid, for fear is against faith. As the wise man said, “He who observes the wind will not sow,” and also, “The lazy man says, ‘There is a lion in the road.’”
Sow and do not fear the wind. God is the One who gives growth. Walk in the path and do not fear the lions. God sends His angel and shuts their mouths.
The children of God who feared failure—the Lord did not accept their fear, but treated them from it, as He did with Moses and Jeremiah and others.
Moses feared failure in his mission to Pharaoh, because he was “slow of speech and slow of tongue” and “not eloquent.” God did not accept this fear from him, but sent him a tongue, and he became the one who spoke with God…
And Jeremiah said, “I do not know how to speak, for I am a youth.” God did not accept from him this fear of failure. Rather He said to him, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you.” And the Lord touched his mouth and said to him, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer. 1).
It is amazing that God chose young children and fought with them and prevailed…
He chose the young David and defeated Goliath with him; He chose Samuel the child and rebuked Eli the priest through him; He chose Jeremiah the youth and said to him, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms… They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you… to deliver you.” Truly, O Lord, You can do everything, and nothing is too difficult for You…
God fought the fear of Joshua and said to him, “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed… No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not leave you nor forsake you” (Josh. 1).
The children of God are distinguished by a courageous heart that does not know the meaning of fear or despair. How beautiful and how powerful is the divine promise that says:
“All things are possible to him who believes.” Believe me, if the whole Holy Bible disappeared and we were left only with this verse, it would be enough for us…
Everything—without exception—is possible. What more do we want?! Among the wonderful hymns in the Book is the hymn of the barren woman in the Book of Isaiah: “Sing, O barren, you who have not borne” (Isa. 54). “Enlarge the place of your tent… lengthen your cords… For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit nations and make the desolate cities inhabited.” Truly, O Lord, You can do everything, and nothing is too difficult for You…
There is nothing difficult before God, nor before you, because all things are possible to him who believes. The important thing is to believe in God’s work with you.
There is an astonishing phrase I read in the Book, and I stood before the Lord in shame, saying to Him: this is too much for us, O Lord; we cannot bear to hear it. This phrase is the Lord’s saying to His disciples:
“The works that I do you will do also; and greater works than these you will do…”
Greater than these?! This saying is difficult, O Lord. If we were to do Your works, that would be too much for us! How then greater than these?!
This phrase does not need understanding, but brokenness.
I know, O Lord, that You can do everything, and nothing is too difficult for You. Truly, the battle is the Lord’s, and He prevails with many or with few. He prevails with the army of Joshua as with the stone of David. He prevails with the strength of Samson and the weakness of Jacob.
Despair is one of Satan’s fears: he frightens us with the length of the road, its difficulty, its wars, the weakness of human nature, and reminds us of the falls of the saints…
But we remember that the power of God which worked in the past works now also. God does not change; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The power of God that rebuilt ruined cities is able to rebuild now.
Who would have thought that the three young men would be cast into the fire and not burn? Or that Daniel would be thrown into the lions’ den and the angels would shut their mouths?
If a sin or a lust or a problem stands before you, say: the battle is the Lord’s, and the Lord is able to prevail with few and with many, and He can do everything.
How beautiful is what Paul the Apostle said about the men of faith (Heb. 11): that by faith they subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness… out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle… They were truly mighty men, mighty in valor.
In the Book of Numbers, God counted only those able to go to war…
Therefore how fearful is the verse mentioned in the Book of Revelation about the cowardly: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8).
Thus He placed the cowardly before the sexually immoral and idolaters. How dreadful, then, is fear!
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Seventh Year (Issue Forty) – 1-10-1976
For better translation support, please contact the center.
