SISTER SARAH'S SOLACE - A SON

Genesis 18 records our sister, Sarah, eavesdropping as her husband entertained some very special visitors. In verse 10 we read: Then one of them said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."

The scripture goes on to tell us that by this time, our sister was very old and past the age of childbearing. To put it bluntly and in today's vernacular, Sarah was post menopausal. Her uterus no longer readied itself on a monthly cycle with rich cellular tissue and blood to sustain a pregnancy if one should occur. She was old and apparently she felt old. Sister Sarah laughed to herself when she heard these words as she thought, "After I am worn out ..." (v.12)

Much has been made of Sarah's laughter. Some see derision and doubt. They think she was mocking a preposterous pronouncement. Others think she giggled to herself like we are prone to do when something sounds too good to be true. I don't know . . . and I'm not entirely sure my sister Sarah knew.

What we do know is that after many years of believing and waiting for the reality of what she heard spoken, it had begun to look impossible from a human standpoint. Sarah was old. Abraham was old. The time of childbearing for her had past. She felt "worn out."

Have you ever felt "worn out"? You sure don't have to be chronologically old in age to feel worn out. Sometimes even those who are still in their prime can feel so beaten up by life - so weary - so worn - that they have a hard time believing God can do anything wonderful and miraculous with them. Have you ever reached that point? I sure have.

I vividly remember a time several years ago when I was in my depression. I stacked up all kinds of rational reasons why I felt I was past God ever being able to use me again. I gave away all my women's ministry books. I deleted all my ministry files...not just from women's ministry but banner ministry and pageant ministry as well. These are all things I deeply regret today. BUT - had someone - even the Lord - told me back then that I would be teaching Sunday School again and leading and writing Bible studies ... I can pretty well assure you, I would have laughed. It would have sounded incredulous to me. I would have had a REALLY difficult time believing it. But I would have WANTED to believe it. It would have sounded too good to be true to me. And I'm sure I would have laughed.

Sarah laughed. Then she was so embarrassed and afraid when she got caught, she lied about it. 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." Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh." Genesis 18:13-15

God exposed Sarah's sin. He didn't let her get by with her lie. When Sarah said - "not me," God said, "Yes, you .." I'm so glad God loves us enough to confront our sin. But notice - God did not punish her and He did not retract His promise. What He did was show her mercy. Will He do the same for you? Absolutely! "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation." Luke 1:50

God gave our sister Sarah and her husband a powerful promise. A covenant promise. A promise that would begin with the birth of a son. The promise sounded really good to our barren sister when she first heard it. But over the years, the outlook on the promise's fulfillment dwindled from good to slim. By the time our sister eavesdropped on this conversation and got caught laughing, the prospects of fulfillment had dwindled to utterly impossible. And that, beloved was EXACTLY how God wanted it. For He is - and always has been - the God of the utterly impossible. Nothing is too hard for Him. He often allows circumstances to dwindle so there will be NO DOUBT - HE - and HE ALONE is the One who has accomplished this miraculous thing.

I don't know about you, but that gives me GREAT encouragement about a word God has given me that I am waiting for Him to fulfill right now. At first the outlook looked good. Then it began to dwindle and there have been a couple of times lately that I've thought it looked utterly impossible. But I'm encouraged by my sister Sarah. I know God is simply letting these circumstances devolve to a point that brings Him the most glory. I am believing that what the Lord has spoken to me WILL be accomplished.

You know the rest of sister Sarah's story, don't you? Not because of her goodness, but because of His graciousness, God turned a loving eye on our aging sister and honored His 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.

Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." Genesis 21: 1-2, 6