His Time, His Way, His Power

His Time. His Way, His Power

Genesis 18:10-14 Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

God has a plan to bless, prosper, save, heal, and restore us It is in His Time

Genesis 12:2-3 God told Abraham, "I will bless you,"

It is always God’s plan to bless his people, and this is true of us as well.

In Genesis 12 God commanded Abraham to leave, country, people, and kindred. Abraham was seventy-five years old - Gen12:4

In Genesis 13:15-16 He had no land or children - God appeared to Abraham and promised to give him both land and children. Years passed, Abraham did not receive either land or children. He made a servant his heir. In Genesis 15:4-5 God appeared again to Abraham and promised that not only would he have many children, but that a son would come from his own body to be his heir.

Abraham was ninety-nine years of age - Genesis 17:1

The Lord appeared to him again and promised to give him a son, Isaac, to be his heir. Abraham had fathered a son, Ishmael. That was not God’s plan, "Your wife Sarah will bear you this son Isaac," "It will happen by this time next year."

God’s Blessing comes at a Set Time

"Now the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised." If God makes a promise, you can count on it, no matter how long it takes to be fulfilled. Don’t ever get impatient and settle for the second-best, as Abraham and Sarah tried to do in the case of Ishmael. They had leaned onto their own understanding and made things happen rather than waiting for God, and the result was Ishmael. God’s best comes to us in God’s own time. The best plan for Abraham was to father a son through his wife Sarah by the energy of God. God is never in a hurry. Any delays we encounter are for our benefit, not his. God is always on time, and twenty-five years does not matter to God.

It is in His Way

What was Sarah’s response to the amazing news she refused to believe it. Sarah reacted in unbelief to the message Abraham brought her. Sarah had all the reasons in the world not to believe this promise of God. But God wanted her to exercise faith in him, not to remain in her unbelief. Hebrews 11:6 "without faith it is impossible to please God,"

Sarah’s Reasons for Unbelief

Let us consider Sarah’s reasons for not believing God’s promise of a son. Sarah was a very reasonable person, and we are very reasonable also. Let us, then, examine Sarah’s reasons for her lack of faith in God’s promises.

"I am barren." The first reason Sarah gave for not believing God’s promise was that she had been infertile all of her life. We read about this in Genesis 11:30 How can a barren woman bear a son? "I am past the age of conception, even if I had been able to conceive." Genesis 18:11. Sarah knew she had passed the age of childbearing long before, even if she had been able to bear children. "I am an old woman of ninety years." Not only was Sarah past the age of childbearing, but she was ninety years old. Genesis 17:17 "My whole life was a disappointment. My hopes have been aroused again and again, only to be dashed and brought down. Why should I raise my hopes now?" Sarah didn’t want to take the chance of trusting God and having her hopes destroyed if God failed to keep his word “I am waxed old” Genesis 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, I am waxed old after shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? She used waxed to describe her physical condition. It means something that is worn-out, withered, and ready to fall apart as an old, used, moth-eaten garment is. This is how Sarah described her body. "I have gotten used to having no children of my own. I have gotten used to living with this disgrace. It’s okay. I know how to handle it." Sarah had learned to live with her disappointment.