In Genesis 18:9-15, the Lord reminds Abraham of His promise that he and Sarah would have a son. The original promise came twenty-four years prior to this encounter. I am sure that after all that time there were moments and seasons, where Abraham felt that the Lord had either forgotten His promise or changed His mind.
What a powerful picture in Genesis 18:1-8. What a tender and delightful picture of God. He comes to Abraham and sits down. He is at ease. The Lord made Himself at home. As you can imagine, Abraham is astonished. The Lord, calm. “Gabriel pass the salt.”
Sarah’s ear is glued to the tent. Time is coming near and all they have been waiting for after all this talk is now one year away! Abraham and Sarah both respond to God’s reminder of His Promise to them.
Abraham responds with humility. Abraham laughed. This isn’t the first time. In Genesis 17:17, he fell on his face and laughed. It was a joyful laughter in faith. “I am not sure how You are going to do this, but God I trust You. I believe You but i’m 100 years old. So you are going to have to do something incredible!
Sarah responds as well. But her response is that of hardness. Sarah was hardened by all the years of hearing the promise but never believing it was going to happen. She had taken matters into her own hands on occasion. And all this tent talk is simply too much. I can hear hear saying, “I’m old enough to be a great grandmother, me have a baby? That is too funny for words!”
Ever found yourself hardened because God didn’t work on your timetable?
Genesis 18:14, poses a very probing question to both Sarah and Abraham. “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”
I find it interesting that both parents laugh at the thought of the birth of their son. Two different perspectives but laughter nonetheless. The Lord told them to name their son, Isaac which literally means “laughter.”
Now I realize that if a husband was ninety-nine and a wife is ninety and they became pregnant it would not be a laughing matter. But I am convinced that God wants to make us laugh by doing something in our lives that we never would have dreamed.
Join me in praying this prayer to Him: Lord, I invite you to do the absurd in my life for Your glory! I invite you to do something I never would have dreamed possible. Lord, do whatever You desire. I open my life to you. I invite you to do something so outside of my faith limits that it makes me laugh!
