Today is April 24th.
   
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.   
  
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”    
   
Today’s reading is from Genesis chapter 18.
 

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 
 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[a] do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.” 
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.” Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.  “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 
  

Can you imagine yourself in this scenario? One in which you, like Sarah, feel like God is speaking something impossible, almost laughable, to you? If there a situation in your life right now that feels this way, how are you navigating it? 
 
As you listen to the scripture again, consider all the questions that Sarah must have had running through her mind: how do these visitors know what I’m thinking? How on earth could I have a baby at this stage of life? Why now, and not earlier? Is this really God? What kind of questions to you bring to God today? 
   
This passage ends with a question: ‘is anything too hard for the Lord?’. In our minds, we know the answer to that question is: of course not! God is all powerful. All knowing. Ever-present. God is the creator of all that is. There is nothing too difficult for God. But in our hearts? In our hearts, sometimes we feel doubt. Our circumstances lead us to wonder if we’re out of God’s ability or desire to help. And our pain, or unanswered prayer, or sense of hopelessness in difficult circumstances, can cause us to languish in a place of spiritual despair. As we end our time of prayer, can you bring that which feels beyond God’s control, or that which leads you to doubt or that which causes you to ask your own hard questions… can you bring that to God? Take a moment and bring all of your questions and doubts to God. 
 
Lord God, Almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do, direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.   

Music: Nothing Is Too Hard For You - Vineyard Worship - (YouTube)