City Life Starter

Written by Megan Meier

The Word

“So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?’ The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 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.’ But Sarah denied it, saying, ‘I did not laugh,’ for she was afraid. He said, ‘No, but you did laugh.’”

Genesis 18:12-15 (ESV)

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

Hebrews 11:11 (ESV)

“Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son.”

Hebrews 11:11 (CEV)

“Nothing is impossible for God!” 

Luke 1:37 (CEV)

Megan’s Musings

Confession: Last week, I was going to give a potentially teratogenic (harmful to unborn babies) medication to a sixty-four-year-old woman, and the pharmacy still asked for verification of whether she went through menopause, and if not, get a pregnancy screening. When I hung up the phone, I laughed. How could a sixty-four-year-old have a child? It turns out she was post-menopausal. Ironic that happened as I was working on this devo. Now I don’t judge eighty-nine-year-old Sarah so much for laughing at God’s declaration. “The change” happens to women between ages 45-55, because the patriarchs lived longer, it might have been delayed. But then again, Sarah declared herself “worn out,” she might have been post-menopausal. Maybe so God could make a point…

God promised to make her husband into a great nation when she was sixty-five (Genesis 12:2). God Himself had promised Sarah a child of her own (Genesis 17:19, 18:10). And God always keeps His Word (Psalm 145:13b), but not always on our timing. Her response, laughter, maybe even cynicism, showed how she saw herself, her situation, and of God. She did not see herself as worthy of God’s blessing, or that God could do what He said. Maybe she listened more to the world than to God. God does not go back on His Word when others doubt Him. After her laughing spell, she did believe God’s Word (Hebrews 11:11) and her greatest wish was fulfilled at the age of ninety (Genesis 21:1-3), twenty-five years of waiting after God made His promise. 

This isn’t the only instance in which God defies the laws of anatomy and physiology (He can, after all, He is God). About four thousand years after the Fall of mankind and God promised a Redeemer, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, and announced she would give birth to Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, although she was a virgin. Her response was not one of disbelief or doubt, but of how. The angel explained of the Holy Spirit coming to her, that even her elderly relative Elizabeth was expecting (a situation very similar to Sarah’s), and nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). 

Application

Sarah didn’t believe at first because she had listened more to the world and its ideas than to God and His Wisdom. Mary probably had a million thoughts going through her head at the time the angel visited her, what will Joseph think, I could get stoned to death for this, among others. But in the end, both women had faith that God would do what He promised. 

Maybe God is going to do something in your life that seems so impossible you’d laugh. It might not be on your timeline, but don’t doubt His Word, trust in Him. Through Jesus’ blood, You are worthy of God’s blessings. Maybe after the fact, you’d laugh in joy at how amazing our God is. 

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You that You are a God who can and will do the impossible. Thank You for Your miracles, open my eyes to see them in everyday life. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.