Everyone makes their choices each day. Right? Your little ones dress themselves for the first time in the stylish settings of stripes and plaids (with contrasting colors) because each piece is their favorite. They made their choice. Your teenager chooses to hang with friends instead of studying for the big test on Monday and then wonders why they failed their test. They made their choice. You chose to speak up against the mean conversation about the boss in the break room at work and walked away – only to discover the boss was out of sight but close enough to hear every word. You made your choice.
We all make choices every day that will affect our lives and impact others. There are key decisions that every Christian must choose in their relationship with God. For example, choosing to honor my parents, or choosing to love my wife, or choosing to model a love for God because it is a genuine reality of my own heart. However, there is one decision we are often called on to make that most, if not all of us, dread. It is the choice to wait. Sometimes God will call us to wait on Him. If we reject that call, we will try to make something happen without God…and we make a mess and prolong God’s perfect way for us. We must choose to wait on the Lord.
The life of Sarah illustrates the call to wait on the LORD in a helpful and practical way. Let’s take some time to follow her life through the book of Genesis and see what God reveals.
Faith Challenged: Sarah was not able to conceive
Genesis 11:30; 12:1-4
Sarah was barren. This would have grieved Sarah and Abraham as it grieves many couples in similar situations today. However, in Genesis 12:1-4, the LORD hints at their having a son when the LORD tells Abraham, “I will make of thee a great nation.”
Mary and her mother (Danelle and Debi Cole) were in a head on car cash going 55 mph in the foothills of Colorado. The car that hit them came into their lane as he fell asleep at the wheel. The mother was presumed dead when the emergency workers arrived on the scene (but she actually survived). The daughter was born mentally handicapped and suffered a C2 fracture from the car wreck. (Christopher Reeve, the actor, was paralyzed after suffering a C2 fracture.) Mary spent much time in recovery. She struggled with the ability to even swallow on her own. But God chose to do the miraculous. Today, Mary can swallow on her own, walk on her own, and her mother is also fully recovered. Only God could do such things!
Have you ever tried to achieve something that you wanted so deeply, yet, with all your best efforts you could not make it happen? Have you ever been in a situation that the only possible hope you had was for God to intervene and save the day? Perhaps it was a massive bill, a health crisis, a relationship in ruins, abuse or addiction of some kind, or the loss of normal everyday functions. These life events can be crushing, no doubt about it! What do you do? Center all your rehearsing on who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised. You can count on Jesus. He is faithful!
Faith Encouraged: The wait for a child is not over
Genesis 15:1-5
God tells Abraham that his offspring will be in number as the stars of the sky. God offers encouragement for Abraham and Sarah to continue waiting.
Here’s the timeline:
In Genesis 12:4, we are told Abraham is 75 years old.
In Genesis 21:5, he is said to be 100 years old when Isaac was born.
They waited 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled!
To be clear about their waiting, we should remember that Sarah and Abraham would wait 15 years before receiving God’s “stars in the sky” encouragement. God would not renew His promise for an heir for another 10 years before Sarah gave birth to a baby boy!
Years ago, when our family was much younger, we lived at 7,000 feet above sea level (just south of the mile high city of Denver). I remember one night we pulled into our garage after church. It was a crisp evening, and the stars were out in full display. Where we lived, we could really see the stars. One of us got out of the car and walked outside onto the driveway…and looked up. Their response easily summoned the rest of us to join them on the driveway. The view was breath taking. Stars were everywhere! It was beautiful.
Are you tired of waiting for God to answer your prayer or fulfill one of His promises? Look up. Look up to the stars. Recount God’s faithfulness to Abraham and Sarah. Rehearse how God is and how He will continue to be faithful — and faithful to you as well! Look up to the stars and be encouraged!
Faith Distracted: Both struggle with believing God.
Genesis 15, 18, 21
Abraham and Sarah’s faith was imperfect. They struggled with God’s promise. Does that feel familiar to any of us? Abraham suggested that his steward, Eliezer, would become his heir (Genesis 15:2-3). However, verse 6 goes on to tells us that he believed the LORD. Romans 4:3-5 and Galatians 3:5-7 both reference this portion of Genesis 15 (“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness”) to remind us that salvation is by faith and not by works. Praise God we are not saved by our own works, for our works would never be enough!
Sarah also had to work through her struggles with God’s timeline. She gave her slave (Hagar) to be a wife to Abraham so they could have a baby that she could call her own (Genesis 16:2-3). Sarah also struggled after waiting 24 years for a son (Genesis 18:12). She was 89 years old, and at that point, she laughed at the claim that at this time next year she will conceive and bear a child. She would laugh again in Genesis 21:6, but that time it was in joyful response at what God had done.
Daniel was taken into captivity at the age of 18 and was not delivered from captivity for 70 years. Joseph lost his freedom at the age of 18 (roughly) and was not released from captivity until he was 30 years old. Noah continued believing God for 120 years before the floods came. Job lost his fortunes and family before God gave him more than he had at the beginning.
The LORD will often allow things to seem impossible before He makes His move. But when God makes His move, it is abundantly clear that God has done that work! Consider this as well, God even encourages our imperfect faith. He patiently guides us along His way. He works in us in ways we do not always understand but He knows that we desperately need, and continually draws us to Himself. We must not stand in contention with God’s working while we wait for God’s working.
Faith Fulfilled: Isaac is born
Genesis 21:1-7
The Lord visited Sarah and she gave birth to Isaac. Abraham and Sarah had an heir just as the LORD had promised.
6 Truths for a Growing Faith:
1. God sees you in your struggle. He has not forgotten you. He is at work on your behalf. Trust Him. (Ex. 33:14; Ps. 37:5; Is. 26:3-4)
2. God will encourage your faith, but you must rehearse what God has said. (Prov. 4:23; 23:7; II Cor. 10:5; Phil. 4:8)
a. God said He would give them an heir.
b. God said He would give the heir to Abraham and Sarah.
c. Pay attention to what God has said!
3. God’s timing is usually not my timing. God did not give them a timeline until the year before Isaac was born.
4. Distracted faith will cause problems that can have lasting impact (Hagar).
5. Distracted faith will cause me to laugh at God’s word.
6. God’s promises are certain. You can count on His word.
a. He always does what He says He will do.
b. He is the only one able to always do what He says He will do.
So, claim the promises and pray the promises of God’s word for:
…your marriage
…your children
…your needs
…your prayers
…your relationships with others
…your relationship with God
May we embrace waiting on God’s perfect timing to lead us in His perfect way for His perfect will for our lives.