We will talk today about those promises received from God that seem to be forgotten. We think that God changed His mind and that our dreams and expectations where too high. Maybe you don’t believe that God can still do it but I have good news for you.
The time between two laughs – The story of Sara
Last week we talked about expiration dates and we’ve seen how God has expiration dates on certain things. He is also able to work when things have passed the expiration date. He can extend things beyond what is humanly possible.
Hebrews 11:11 (AMP)
Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word.
1. God will do His work in us even if we passed the expiration date
If God said it, God will do it! If God promised it He will give it! The condition however is that you need to get to a point in your life in whish we consider God to be reliable, trustworthy and true to his word.
Luke 18:27 (AMP)
But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.
What is financial impossible to man is possible to God.
What is physically impossible to man is possible to God.
What is naturally impossible to man is possible to God.
I am not talking today about wishful thinking or about selfish ambition but about promises that you received from God. There are things that you received in your spirit as a divine promise but after waiting for a long period of time you decided to burry them and you came to a point in life where you’ve given up to even pray for them.
Many Christians start their walk with God with a simple view of faith and we believe for healing miracles. We believe that God is working in all the little details of our life but with time we start to disbelieve that all that he promises is reliable trustworthy and true.
2. All of God’s promises are yes and amen
2 Corinthians 1:20 - New Living Translation (NLT)
For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
All of God’s promises are YES and AMEN. If it’s in the Bible we should believe it’s true. If you need a miracle and have been waiting in God for the fulfillment of his promises you need to trust him and his Word.
3. The Story of Sara – The laugh of disbelief
Genesis 18:9-13 (ESV)
9They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent." 10The LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?" 13The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'
Sometimes the pastor speaks a promise of God into your life or a confession of faith about your church and deep inside you have a laugh of disbelief. Yeah sure…like this is going to happen. It’s the laugh of cynicism. Some people come to church and listen to the message of faith but they don’t really think that the promise is about to happen and they laugh.
Notice that God asked Abraham “why did Sarah laugh?”. I wonder how God feels every Sunday after service when Christians laugh of the promises and leave the Church in disbelief.
Genesis 18:13,14 (ESV)
13The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.
God asks Abraham “Is anything hard for the Lord?”. He also said “at the appointed time I will return to you…” God has appointed times that to us seem to be passed the expiration date but his promises are yes and amen!
Sometimes God will wait for us to be passed the age so we will know that it was him and not us who has given the promise. The whom of our faith has to be strong enough to carry God’s promise to life.
4. Trying to “help” God
Genesis 16
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Sara said to Abram that God had retrained her from having children and told him to sleep with her maid and to have a child from her. You see, in the moment we loose our faith in God’s promises we start saying, “God doesn’t want this to happen”.
I don’t know what Sara was smoking since I don’t know of any woman in her perfect health that would say to her husband to go and sleep with another woman. This shows how ridiculous we become when we loose our faith.
Some people will receive a promise from God and because it’s not coming the way they wanted they move to another church or they stop serving the Lord since they’ve lost their trust in his promises.
We need to trust that God will do anything in His appointed time.
Ishmael was born out of this mistake and we are still paying for the consequences of this mistake.
5. The laugh of Victory
Genesis 21
1The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. 2And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me."
Now we can see a different kind of laughter. Sarah said that “God has made laughter for me”. By other words she is saying “God has made me into a laughing-stock and all that hear about will laugh at me”. I don’t think she is concerned with this but she is really having a moment of triumph and rejoices in the fact that she received the promise but this second laughter is a reminder of God’s faithfulness.
The first laugh is the laugh of scarf and unbelief but the second is the laugh of faith. This is impossible but God has made it. She called her son Isaac whish means “son of laughter” and all our joys in the Lord are received in the same way.
We need to have this kind of joy that laughs because there is not a promise to hard for God to fulfill, there is no problem too big for God to solve, there is no disease to hard for God to heal, there is no heart too broken for God to mend, there is no need to big for God to fulfill, there is no enemy too hard for God to defeat, there is no mountain to big for him to move. There is nothing that God cannot do! What is impossible to man is possible to God.
Conclusion
If you want to pace yourself in a position where you can expect a miracle to happen you need to start by being at peace with God and you can only reach this through Jesus.
God wants to give you a brand new start and a hope for the future.
Hebrews 11:11 (AMP)
Because of faith also Sarah herself received physical power to conceive a child, even when she was long past the age for it, because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word.
Like Sarah we can have our moments of doubt and right now you can be in between two laughs but the Bible says that she received supernatural power because she considered [God] Who had given her the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and true to His word.
It is time for us to trust in the Lord and even if we think his promises passed the expiration date it is always time to be at peace with God and wait for the second laugh.
1Peter 1:3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
Our culture doesn’t like to wait. I want to tell you that God is never late but he is always on time. Mockers will always say that God’s promises are not coming but he who laughs last laughs best! We need to endure the test of faith and even if it seams that the promise is too late.
