Can God?

I began a series of sermons a couple of weeks ago entitled “Can God?” I ran across this illustration and thought it fit very, very well with the topic and thought I’d share it with you. Here goes…

A man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day when he accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet. He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff.

So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that somebody passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something. “HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? Help!” He yelled for what seemed like hours, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice.

“Jack. Jack. Can you hear me?”

“Yes, yes, I can hear you. I'm down here!”

“I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?”

“Yes, but...who are you, and where are you?”

“I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere.”

“The Lord? You mean GOD?”

“That's Me.”

“God, please help me! I promise…if You'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life.”

“Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's just get you down from there, and then we can talk. Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully.”

“I'll do anything You say, Lord. Just tell me what to do.”

“Okay. Let go of the branch.”

“What!?!?”

“I said to let go of the branch. Just trust Me and let go.”

There was a long silence. Finally, Jack yelled, “HELP! HELP! Is there anyone else up there?”

Boy that sounds like us sometimes doesn't it? We say we want to serve the Lord and know His will, then when He tells us what He wants us to do, we try to do anything else but what He’s telling us! It’s amazing that we seem to constantly doubt the power, the promises and the presence of God as we go through life. I suggest that we need a lesson in trust. We often ask the question "Can God?" I’m here to tell you that "God Can!" The God we serve is still the Lord of glory. He is still the King of kings and He is still able to do all the things He has ever been able to do.

“For I, the Lord, do not change…” Malachi 3:6