Difficult things

This morning I am reading Genesis 18. In this chapter Abraham is visited by three strangers. It's a very interesting chapter, but what caught my eye this morning is something that the Lord asked Abraham in response to his disbelief of God's promise. Here's the short passage and then my thoughts-

Gen 18:10 He said, "I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.
Gen 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.
Gen 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
Gen 18:13 And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?'
Gen 18:14 "Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

All through the Bible I see God asking very interesting questions. They aren't ever meant to get information as most questions do because God already knows the answer. His questions are meant to get a response from the hearer. In this passage he asks a question that he will ask of others later in the Bible. Since God asks the question more than once let's talk about it. Here's his question that caught my attention this morning-

Is anything too difficult for the LORD?

I read that, stopped, read it again...I have read it hundreds of times before....but this time I ask myself the question......Is anything too difficult for the Lord? Your answer tells you a lot about your theology, but I thought about that in my life. Does my prayer life reflect a belief in a big God or do I refrain from big requests because I'm not sure God can handle them. I'm in the middle of a biography of George Muller right now who lived his life in dependence on God alone to meet the needs of his life and ministry and I know George would tell me emphatically, "No, there's nothing too difficult for God!" But I think that most Christians live their lives with a small God theology, a theology that doesn't really believe that God is able or willing to answer the "big prayers." So, today I'm dwelling on a question for me- Is anything too difficult for God? Is the God I worship the same one who created the universe with a word? Is the God I worship the one who holds all things together and is powerful enough to meet my needs? Am I really a worshipper of the God of the Bible or have I settle for a "pocket God"...a token of the real one? Is anything too difficult for the LORD? Do I really believe that God is who he says he is or not?

Each of us has to work through these questions and come to a place of dependence on the God who is able or try to manage our lives on our own. I think this question to Abraham is probably one of the most important questions we will ever answer in our own lives- Is anything too difficult for the LORD?