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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
Genesis 21:1-7
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Genesis Chapters 17 and 18, you’ll recall God making a promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child, a son who they were to name Isaac. At that time, you may remember that both were very skeptical because of their old age and on top of that, Sarah was considered barren. In fact, they laughed at the prospect that they might end up having a child together, something that ironically played into the name of their son. I say this because the name Isaac actually means "he laughs".
In a play of words on this, one might say that God actually got the last laugh in the matter because in our scripture passage for today from the opening verses of chapter 21, we learn that Sarah became pregnant and bore the son that God had promised would come to them. Look again at those words here:
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age." Vv.1-7
Here we see how the Lord indeed gave Abraham the boy that he named Isaac and in accordance with the covenant, Abraham made sure his son was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. We also see a quite different version of Sarah than we witnessed before. For the scriptures tell us that Sarah said:
"God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
Through her testimony, we see how a wonderful transformation took place within Sarah’s heart.
For Sarah the Skeptic had now become Sarah the Thankful.
Sarah the Scoffer had now become Sarah the Rejoicer.
And Sarah the Doubter had become Sarah the Praiser as she gives all credit and glory to God who had made good on His promise, just as He always does.
Through this story, we find God revealing three things to Sarah and to us as well:
1. God provides by His grace.
Sarah didn’t really deserve what God did for her. She had exercised a total lack of faith and laughed at Him when He proposed that she would conceive and bear Isaac. But as we read in verse 1, the “Lord was gracious to Sarah" just as He will be to you and me. Just the mere fact that I am writing this now and you will read it later is a testament to the very grace I’m talking about, an amazing grace that gives us the very breath of life and the opportunity to serve, despite the sinners we are.
In the end translation, none of us deserves this life that we have but yet God graces us with it. He forgives, redeems, and saves wretches like you and me who once were lost and now are found.
2. God fulfills His promises despite our lack of faith.
God guaranteed Abraham and Sarah would have a son and in turn, both showed a remarkable lack of faith that God would be able to do what He said. As punishment for this, God could have just called off the whole promise but He didn’t. Rather, He made good on what He said He would do.
Friends, like Abraham and Sarah, we too often lack the steadfast faith that we should have in the One who is capable of all things. He has given us so many promises and assurances and we know that He always makes good on them, often despite our unfaithfulness.
The truth of the matter is that the Lord never turns His back on us. Unfortunately, we are the ones who turn our back on Him.
3. God’s actions bring us to the place of praise.
The skeptically laughing Sarah became the joyful, praising Sarah as she became pregnant and then gave birth to Isaac. We find her filled with an attitude of rejoicing and one can’t help but think she was changed forever to where she would never doubt her God again.
Brothers and sisters, we serve an amazing God, a God of perfect grace who ever fulfills His promises to us, even when our faith falters, and through the blessing of those promises, He ordains praise as we respond to His provision and love.
Today and every day, let us give thanks to God for all that He’s been, all that He is, and all He is yet to be in our lives.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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