Delight as Promised

 Delight as Promised

Genesis 21: And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. ² For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³ And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

 

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Abraham and Sarah were reunited. They settled in the land of the Philistines and all was well. Then the LORD removed the supernatural closing of Sarah’s womb, enabling her to have a child. HE did as HE said at the time HE said, one year later.

 

During this time, GOD wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah, causing Abraham and Sarah to move. HE also performed a miracle of closing and opening the wombs of the women associated with Abimelech.

 

My Observations:

• Sarah was delighted to finally become pregnant after decades of waiting on GOD.
• Sarah laughed out of joy that GOD kept HIS promise and probably that she was chosen.
• GOD.
• Sarah referred to Abraham in her statement of delight, perhaps feeling relieved that the prophecy was true and nothing was wrong with her.

 

After years of thinking “is something wrong with me?”, Sarah finally conceived the child she wanted. It seemed like everyone else was able to get pregnant, but Sarah remained barren. Her plan backfired, when she insisted that Abraham have a child by Hagar.

 

Now she was full of delight. Abraham circumcised Isaac, just as the LORD commanded him. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was ninety.

 

Challenge

• Why do you think GOD told Moses about Sarah’s reaction?
• Have you ever waited on GOD’s promise for a long time and thought HE would not keep HIS promise?
• When GOD makes a promise to you, are you faithful that HE will keep it, even if HIS timing is different than yours?

Switched Focus

Switched Focus

Genesis 18: ⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

 

So he said, “Here, in the tent.”

 

¹⁰ And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

 

(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

 

¹³ And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”

 

¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

 

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Up to this point everything was about Abraham. GOD spoke to him directly and told him to leave his father’s house and go to a place where I will show you. Abraham immediately obeyed. GOD then spoke to Abraham a few more times. But this time was different. JESUS and the angels asked together, “Where is Sarah your wife/”

 

My Observations:

• Sarah had faith to go with Abraham to a place GOD told him to go, but she was not told by GOD.
• Sarah had faith to maintain the cattle and the property while Abraham went to rescue Lot and Sodom’s stuff.
• Sarah’s laughter was filled with mixed emotions possibly because up to this point it had been all about Abraham.

 

“Where is Sarah your wife” seems to be a question to Abraham that she should have been present at the dinner. GOD knew where she was physically. But why isn’t she here? Over the years, Abraham may have expressed “his” relationship with GOD, but did not express hers. Abraham had left out the most important component to the promise, namely his wife.

 

Sarah laughed inside herself when she overheard the news for herself. BUT GOD heard the laughter. I believe HE wasn’t scolding her when HE said “No, but you did laugh!”, rather HE was bringing her into the spotlight by speaking to both Abraham and Sarah. The focus was no longer only on Abraham, but on both of them. GOD would return "at the appointed time."

 

Challenge

• Why did GOD ask Abraham about Sarah’s laughter when providing this conversation to Moses?
• Have you ever felt left out of the promises of GOD while HE uses other people?
• Can you believe that GOD sees you and has a special part of HIS plan specifically for you?