Life
Lessons: God’s Promises
Genesis
21:1—23:20
SITUATION: Even though Sara doubted, God demonstrated
his faithfulness by providing a son for her. God also took care of Hagar after
she was forced to leave Abraham’s camp. God fulfilled his promises when
conditions appeared hopeless.
OBSERVATION: God will fulfill his promises, no matter how
difficult our problems. Even when we don’t know how God will act, we must trust
that he watches over us.
INSPIRATION: Consider the case of Sarai. She is in her
golden years, but God promises her a son. She gets excited. She visits the
maternity shop and buys a few dresses. She plans her shower and remodels her
tent . . . but no son. She eats a few birthday cakes and blows out a lot of
candles . . . still no son. She goes through a decade of wall calendars . . .
still no son. . . .
Finally, fourteen years later, when Abram is
pushing a century of years and Sarai is ninety . . . when Abram has stopped
listening to Sarai’s advice, and Sarai has stopped giving it . . . when the
wallpaper in the nursery is faded and the baby furniture is several seasons out
of date . . . when the topic of the promised child brings sighs and tears and
long looks into a silent sky . . . God pays them a visit and tells them they
had better select a name for their new son.
Abram and Sarai have the response:
laughter. They laugh partly because it is too good to happen and partly because
it might. They laugh because they have given up hope, and hope born anew is
always funny before it is real.
They laugh because that is what you do
when someone says he can do the impossible. They laugh a little at God, and a
lot with God—for God is laughing, too. Then, with the smile still on his face,
he gets busy doing what he does best—the unbelievable. . . .
He changes their faith. He changes their
names. He changes the number of their tax deductions. He changes the way they
define the word “impossible.”
But most of all, he changes Sarah’s
attitude about trusting God.
APPLICATION: When you’ve made big mistakes and your life
appears to be headed for shipwreck, who can help? Are there any promises more
comforting than God’s? When you feel anxious today, STOP. Pray: “God, I trust
in your faithfulness to change both my attitude and my circumstances.”
EXPLORATION: God’s Promises: Genesis 9:8-17; 15:1-6; 50:24; Exodus 6:6-8;
Joshua 21:43-45; 2 Peter 1:3-4.
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