Abba Keeps His Promises
The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. 2 She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. 3 And Abraham named their son Isaac. 4 Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. 5 Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.6 And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter.[a] All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7 Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!”
Genesis 21:1-7
If you are waiting on God for the manifestation of promises He made to you, continue waiting. His promises are sure. They are never forgotten and He always keeps His word.
Take the time to carefully read the story of Abraham and you will understand clearly the full picture. You will understand exactly what that “promise” was for Sarah. Since you are here with me, I will give a quick summary. Abraham was promised by God that he would become a Father of many nations. It was during this encounter with God His name was also changed from Abram to Abraham. His wife Sarai was a part of this promise too and her name was also changed to Sarah. This is a beautiful story which you can read starting from Genesis 17 or you could backtrack to chapter 15. The promise was communicated to him from God when He told him to look to the sky. He said his seed would be as numerous as the stars. Beautiful promise, however it took a few years before this promise was manifested. Genesis 21 verses 1-7, gives us a record of the promise which was made to Abraham and Sarah, and was finally answered. Though it took a few years before it was given to them, when it was given, they had the opportunity to enjoy what was promised.
The chapter opened by stating “The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised.” As we meditate on this verse, I would like to focus our attention on the words “kept and exactly”. We know that God promised Sarah a son. This was fundamentally what Sarah was waiting on the Lord for. I would like to add the word patiently, but I want to be very careful. As we read the story we learned of that special instance when she wanted to assist God to manifest the promised son. She instructed her husband to have sexual intercourse with her handmaid to bare him a son. Of course, I put myself in her state of mind and honestly, I probably would suggest the same idea. However, would that have been the best idea? Later in this very chapter (21), Sarah got a little sour and asked her husband to send Hagar (that’s the second time she did that); the same maidservant, with the child. This was so unkind. This could have been avoided if she had kept her ideas to herself from the getgo and patiently waited on God to bless her with her own son, which He at the appointed time did.
Sarah can be deemed as an example of us at times. God promised us a thing or two and because that thing appears to be delayed and we have to wait for longer than we expected, we plan to take matters into our own hands. We think that perhaps the Almighty God, the Master of the Universe needs our human assistance. I think that we sometimes forget that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Perhaps we believe that He doesn’t know that we are waiting or have been waiting for years. Perhaps He isn’t aware of our circumstance so we need to show Him how it should be done. Perhaps we think that if we do a particular thing, this will bring the promise to pass. Perhaps we think that maybe God wants us to be in a particular place in order for it to happen. We go on throughout our days focusing so much on the promise that we end up missing out on the lessons He wants us to learn now. Perhaps He wants us to just stop stressing for a moment. Perhaps He wants us to stop trying to manipulate the situations in our life to try to bring about the outcome of the promise. Perhaps He wants us to just focus on the current assignments He has given us. Perhaps He wants us to just learn to trust Him. Trust that He actually knows the plans He has for us. He knows exactly what He said to us and He knows exactly the perfect time the promise will and should come to pass. He wants us to abide in Him and focus on His love now, in this season of our life. Though the timeframe may tarry, He still wants us to wait patiently for Him.
God did exactly what He promised to Sarah. This means that every single detail of the promise made was given to her with no inaccuracy in it. He kept His word. He did not lie and neither did He forget about her. Though years went by and she had to wait for a while but yet still this promise made to her was sealed in His heart. He did not let it go. He kept it safe and allowed her to go through the necessary process and preparation so that when the promise did manifest she would actually be ready. He also wanted to show her who He really was. She needed to experience God in a miraculous way. She didn’t think it was possible for it to happen to her because of her situation. It seemed rather IMPOSSIBLE. She laughed when she first heard the news that she would give birth to a son. It was ridiculous to her. It made absolutely no sense. However when it did, she experienced God in a new way. The God of miracles. God can perform the miraculous things we think are impossible when we look at our “impossible” situation. When she gave birth, again she laughed, because the thing she thought was impossible became possible. Her latter days were filled with joy because of this promise that manifested at just the perfect time. She was in her old age and unable to give birth to a child and Abraham was 100 years. Two very impossible situations saw the hand of God move and miraculously they gave birth to a son who was named Issac; which means “Laughter”. Their bosom was filled with joy at His birth and the promise of God to them was finally manifested here on earth.
Who are we to say that God is holding back our promise? Who are we to say that it’s getting late or time is running out? Who are we to give God a timer? Who are we to say that this promise is impossible? The story of Sarah and Abraham proved us otherwise. Your situation may look impossible and it may seem that time is running out but not on God’s clock it is. We have to remind ourself that with God all things are possible even if it doesn’t make sense. Even if it may mean that we have to wait on Him for a little longer than we thought or wanted to, we still need to believe in our heart that God knows what’s best. He knows why you need to wait. Remember everything has to fall in place and everything will work out well for you once you love Him and are called to His purpose. It is also necessary for Him to prepare and prune you for this promise so you will be ready to steward it well. Do not lose heart. Do not faint and grow weary but instead remain joyful in hope, patient in affliction and steadfast in prayer. Keep your focus on Him and away from worry and stress. Do not try to manipulate the situation in any way thinking that you can “help” God. He doesn’t need our help in this aspect, what He wants is for us to rely on Him and just love Him. Spend more time in His word. Spend time reading your bible and developing a better prayer life. Leave everything else in your Father’s hands. He loves you and at just the perfect time, He the Lord will make it happen exactly as He promised.
Shalom
