I remember as a child singing a song where the chorus says, “Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, nothing is impossible for God.” In Sunday school I was taught that God can do all things. So, when I was a young Christian, and someone asked me if God can do anything, I readily asserted that yes, God can do anything. I had no idea that I had just walked into a trap.
The person then asked me with a smug expression on their face, “Can God make a rock so big that He can’t lift it?” It quickly dawned on me that I was now in a no-win situation. If God is unable to make a rock too big for Him to lift, then that is something He cannot do. If God does make a rock too big for him to lift, then again, there would be something God is incapable of doing. I mumbled that I did not know the answer and walked away defeated.
That question bothered me for years afterward. I repeatedly heard in church that God was omnipotent which meant He could do anything. Yet the rock question seemed to prove that was not the case. I was asked that question a couple more times in my early Christian years and I never had a suitable answer. It was a dilemma for me.
Then I started reading the Bible for myself. Oh, I had been reading the Bible since my earliest days of education but in my late-twenties I started really READING the Bible. I began digging into God’s Word and seeing what He was truly saying through it instead of just listening to others tell me what God was saying. I was surprised at how God opened my eyes through the truth in His Word.
After a while I realized the answer to the rock question. It is “NO”! No, God cannot make a rock too big for Him to lift. So, yes, there are things God cannot do. Not only that, but it is God’s inability to do certain things that brings me great comfort and security.
The Bible clearly says that God is omnipotent but that is not the same as being able to do anything. It means that He is all-powerful. Because God is all-powerful (omnipotent) it is impossible for Him to fail. In the case of the rock question, there is nothing too big or too heavy for God to lift. Therefore, He cannot create such a rock. However, that has little meaning or value to me.
What does have value, and brings comfort, is that nothing is too big or too difficult for God to handle. He cannot fail so He will not fail to keep His promises. Promises such as He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear or that nothing can snatch me out of His hand. Since God cannot fail, if I listen to Him, follow His guidance, and rely on His strength then I will live fruitfully and victoriously.
God is perfect, so He cannot change. He is already at the peak of perfection, so any change would lessen Him, and that is impossible. God has always been the way He is now and will remain that way for eternity. I never have to worry that someday He will be different or have a different mind-set or different values.
God is truth. Therefore, He cannot lie. That means that I can trust His Word, both written (scripture) and what He says to me personally. My interpretation or ability to hear may be faulty but what He says will always be true.
When the Bible says that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) it is referring to salvation. Our condition is not an obstacle for God. God is also capable of doing anything that He chooses to do. After all, why would He choose to fail, lie, or become less perfect? We can be confident that our God is fully capable of dealing perfectly with any situation that will arise.
Most Holy and awesome God, You are all-powerful and cannot fail. You are truth and cannot lie. You are perfect and cannot change. I am thankful for all of these things. Yet I am also thankful for what You can and will do. You will lift me up when I cry out to You. You can and will keep Your promises. You are an unshakable, unmoving, unchanging rock that is my anchor in the storms of life.