Is there Anything too hard for God?

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
 
Italians have a saying – vivere pericoloso, which means “to live dangerously.” In 1964, the then president of Indonesia used the phrase in his independence-day speech, referring to the ongoing unrest in his country as “the year of living dangerously.” His words proved prescient: a year later, he was deposed by a coup d’état.
 
We’re only in the month of August, but 2020 might well go down as our year of living dangerously, fueled by a perfect storm of pandemic, economic woe, and racial, social, and political tumult. For international students in America, the anxiety and uncertainty of schooling under lockdown was further heightened by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) announcement in early July that international students taking online classes only would not be allowed to stay in the US, only for ICE to beat a hasty retreat a week later in the face of lawsuits by the country’s leading universities and state governments against the federal government!
 
Is anything too hard for God?
 
My family and I have had our own version of dangerous living! Leaving home and hearth in Singapore and moving to America to join ISI was a shock to our systems. Starting on the job at the beginning of this year – only to have COVID shake things up – has made it a wild ride, especially with long established conventions and methods becoming passé. I worried whether we could steer the Good Ship ISI safely and surely through the hurricane, when there was no readymade map or blueprint to point the way forward. And yet our ministry is seeing the numbers of decisions for Christ, students (and returnees) in discipling relationships, and those who are actively witnessing and making disciples for Christ all on the upswing during this period! Moreover, thanks to our donors – thanks to God! – our ministry is holding steady financially!
 
Is anything too hard for God?
 
This summer my family and I returned to our home country to renew our US visas – which couldn’t be done in the States – at the American consulate in Singapore. We faced two major hurdles: the consulate was closed thanks to COVID, and there was a US presidential executive order in place blocking visa holders from entering the States. Faced with the prospect of not being able to return to Colorado Springs for up to six months, the ministry drew up a backup plan in case we got stuck in Singapore. In the face of these uncertainties, our visas got renewed and I was able to return safely and soundly to the States!
 
Is anything too hard for God?
 
But we’re not out of the woods yet. My wife Trina and our daughter Elisabeth are still in Singapore. A few days ago, Trina contracted dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, which landed her in the hospital. The irony for Singapore and other tropical countries is that with more people stuck at home because of lockdown from COVID, there is greater exposure to the dengue-infected mosquitoes breeding in their neighborhoods. In Latin America, more people have reportedly died from dengue fever than from COVID. To be honest, it’s rather frustrating for me not to be able to be by my wife’s side, with her in Singapore and I back in the States. That said, I am amazed and thankful that so many are rallying in prayer for her and for us!
 
Is anything too hard for God?
 
The year of living dangerously offers countless opportunities to welcome Jesus into our crises and troubles. Is anything too hard for God? Nothing whatsoever! 
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