READ: Genesis 18:9
God’s got a plan for Abraham and Sarah and their family and He has one for you as well.
CHALLENGE: Parent with Confidence in God
God was building a nation but you can’t build a nation without a family and God was announcing that Isaac would be born the following year. Let’s take a look at what we learn here.
- GOD PROMOTES TOGETHERNESS (vv9-10)
Vv9-10 – Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then one of them 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.
Let’s track the questions we hear from God in this story. The first question is “Where is your wife”?
- We Need Togetherness in Parenting
Hey Abraham, do you know where your wife is? He answers, “There in the tent”. At least he knew right where she was. What if someone asked you where is your wife was in the middle of the day, would you know? Are we knowledgeable as to what they’re going through? Or clueless?
We are told to live with our wives in an understanding way (1 Peter 3:7). This means that we need to be considerate and understand what their concerns are. What’s important to them should be important to us! Afterall, we’re partners in this thing called life and in this journey of parenting. We’re teammates all the way.
God’s question shifts the attention to Sarah in this story. I believe one of the reasons for the question is because God wants Sarah in on the conversation. She needed to hear the information and we find her listening at the entrance of the tent. When you’re playing on the same team, you both need the same info. How’s the communication in your family?
Ever have that conversation, “I thought I told you”? And then you realize, perhaps you didn’t. I’ve been known to have detailed plans in my head that I did not share with anyone else before suddenly springing it on them. Sarah is about to have a child. And that’s not out of the ordinary except that she was headed for 90 years old. Since this is a two person effort between a mom and dad, she needs to be included! It’s not like you can say, “Sarah’s going to have a child with you but let’s keep it on the low down and not tell her”.
If you want things going more smoothly on the marriage front, include your spouse in the planning stage and make sure they are on board with your plans from the get go. Not meaning that you badger them until they agree with your plan. I mean that they are “all in” from the inception. Things that include you both require both in on the conversation. Talking is part of togetherness.
Marriage is an interdependent action as we depend on each other. I certainly depend on Jeri and we march through things together. Think of everything you go through in your years of marriage. Let’s face it, we don’t do much alone! We are in it together and isn’t this what God wants?
Let’s note that when God is speaking to you, he’s speaking to them. And it’s not two different messages. He’s not telling you one thing and them another. God is talking to both Abraham and Sarah at the same time. If we are in a relationship and we’re not hearing the same thing or moving the same way, it’s an issue, right? God is not leading the husband to where he’s not leading the wife or visa versa. You both should be on the same page.
Even when Joseph wanted to divorce Mary after hearing she was carrying the Christ child. God made sure that Joseph stayed with her for that important mission of bringing Jesus into the world. A mom, a dad, and children. Together. This is going to be the life for Abraham and Sarah for the rest of their days.
How would you rate the togetherness in your marriage? When you parent, you need to be on the same team! You can’t play by different rules.
I like to be together on projects and the plan forward. I appreciate God including Sarah. Where is your wife? She’s an important part of the gameplan. One of the problems I see in teams at times whether family or in church or in the community, is when an individual does what they want without considering the overall impact on others. It’s like they don’t know how to be part of the team without being the center of attention and trying to run it. Some never played team sports and it shows!
- Consistency of the Message (v10)
What God tells Abraham in this moment was exactly consistent with what He’s been saying all along. It’s not something new or inconsistent with the message that was given previously. This is the part of the same promise given in Genesis 12. When God leads today it will be consistent with how He has led in the past. He is certainly not going to contradict what He’s already said.
What about people getting a “word” from God. There are some running around who claim to hear more from God than Abraham did. I wonder. Regardless, whatever it is you’re hearing has to be in accord with what we’ve already been taught in the Bible. God isn’t going to contradict himself and your “word” is not above Scripture.
I’ve heard interpretations of the Bible that would negate having pastors even though Paul was everywhere appointing leaders and pastors. Thus, your new revelation cannot set aside what God has already said. So, when your words are louder than God’s words, there is a problem. When your words are contradicting God’s words, there is a problem. Even Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law, he came to fulfill it. Now if Jesus didn’t change it, who are you?
Moses said that any true prophet will not contradict the word already revealed. If they did, they’re not from God! Paul said if anyone preached another gospel than the one they received, that person should be accursed. What was taught in the future has to gel with what’s taught in the past.
God’s message is cohesive and unchanging. The same truth I had in Sunday school as a child is still impacting my life today. The same promises that I had from God then, I have from God now.
I’ve been reading through the biblical history of Jeroboam and in Israel only the Levites could be priests. Under his leadership, he let anyone who wanted to be a priest be one. He did not follow God’s laws, he made it up. He literally made gods and his own religious festivals. It wound up leading to his death and that of his entire family. He was so arrogant and so desirous that people follow him that he changed what God said.
God’s been moving Abraham and Sarah in this direction all along. It’s not a different message down the road.
- Togetherness in Family Responsibilities
They will have this responsibility of raising a child together. This is something that we do with God, not independently of God.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
We communicate the Scripure every chance that we get. If we teach our children the right way they will stick to it when they get older. I’ve heard parents say that they gave their children to the Lord. Funny, because he gave them to you and there’s a reason you have the children you do. They need you in their lives.
We make sure they’re around good influences and how important that is. I think of Jehoshaphat in the Bible. He was a great king but he aligned himself with the worldly King Ahab who was married to Jezebel. Later on his son marries Ahab’s daughter. This is a disaster and Jehoram wound up worshipping false gods. I wondered, did his son travel with his dad when he did business with Ahab and later Ahab’s son? Did his dad bring that influence into his family? Be careful!
We can do devotions. We can have our children in VBS and starting back in the fall, Adventure Club!
The children that God blesses us with become our clear responsibility. God wants togetherness in our parenting, his words, and our responsibility to raise our children.
B. GOD HEARS YOUR HEART
Why did Sarah laugh? (vv12-13)
12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
I heard that! She laughed. She’ll say she didn’t but God will call her out on it. God’s never guessing as to what you said or thought or what you meant. He knows. God said you’ll have a child, yet it seems SO impossible. After I’m worn out? And my husband is old? Will I now have this pleasure? What’s she thinking? That’s crazy!
Sometimes we slip into bad thinking. I wonder if there are lies we store away in our brain and heart … lies that become our truth. The lie in this case is that God cannot do the impossible. What has been, is all that will ever be. Sarah has God and His phenomenal ability capped.
Even as we contemplate revival in this great nation of ours and revival in Ashtabula county, I hope that we have not capped God on what could be! If we are limiting God then that’s a problem.
And perhaps, like Sarah, there are times when you’ve thought the same thing about something that God said to you. That’s crazy! I can’t be moral. I can’t forgive. I can’t change. I can’t be normal. My life will never be good. That’s a lie. Any time we’re thinking God’s ways are impossible, we need to check our thinking. Another bad thought is, it’s too late. Is it ever too late for God to work in you? Is it too late to make a difference? Is it too late to get it together? Is it too late to try? Is it too late to change paths? It’s too late to be forgiven?
It wasn’t too late for the criminal next to Jesus who asked Jesus to remember him when he came into God’s kingdom. Jesus said today, you’ll walk with me in paradise. It’s not too late for you! There’s still time to make something great of your life.
Is there any false thinking about God that you’re holding onto? God asks, why did Sarah laugh and question it. Who was Sarah talking to that He heard her? She was talking to herself. She thought it and God heard it! God read her mind like you’d read a post on facebook or a scoreboard. You’re not hiding anything from the Lord!
When Hannah prayed for a son, God heard her. Her lips moved but no sound was heard, yet God knew what she was asking. And he answered that prayer in her heart. God answers the prayers in our hearts as well. He knows our desires. What you’re thinking right now is not hidden from the Lord.
Jesus knew the thoughts of the people around him because he knew what was in the heart of man. What are your concerns for your family? What are you wondering about? Worried about? Where has impossibility collided with one of God’s promises threatening to topple your faith? He knows.
Are there things you have not verbalized to anyone? Take it to God. If you’re concerned with the future well-being of your family, God knows that. God hears your heart for your family. If God could hear your heart, what would he hear? God hears you.
C. GOD CAN DO ANYTHING (vv14-15)
Vv14-15 – Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
The next instructive question that God asks is this – is anything too hard for the Lord?
What does that mean? Is there anything beyond his strength? God can do anything that is consistent with his holy and righteous character.
If you want God doing things in your life, I wouldn’t be involving myself in the evil. Abraham and Sarah were not the ones in Sodom. They were doing the things that God wanted them to do.
But as we live and parent we want to acknowledge that God can do great things in your family. He can bring your children around. He loves you and your children.
There is a story in Leading Like Jesus of a mother who never gave up praying for her son. A reckless and ruined life turned around to God’s glory after thirty years of praying. Don’t give up!
Are there dreams we’ve given up on because they seem so impossible? And I’m not asking if you really believe it’s too late for your singing career. I mean to really accomplish more for God as we move forward. To do things that we could never do on our own. What are we coming to God for? What are our big requests? God does great things!
Hold onto this question….Is anything too hard for the Lord? This has to be one of the most profound statements in the Bible. God parted the Red Sea. God brought Jesus back from the dead. God healed Hezekiah. Jesus said that we could move mountains through prayer.
Omnipotence and Parenting. If you have children in difficult straights, God can do something about it. Trust the Lord!
I’ve been through difficult stretches that brought me to my knees and I’ve gotten to the other side. And without God it would have been a completely different story. Only by the grace of God do I have what I have. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Let’s not give up.
And when God comes through, that’s such a beautiful thing in and of itself. God comes through powerfully. And there will be so much joy. And so much love. And so many beautiful days. There will be amazing things.
Sarah is afraid so she said, “I didn’t laugh” and what did God say? Yes you did. I love the straight forwardness of God. Yeah…you laughed. I heard you laugh.
God wants us to work together, he hears us and he can do anything. Be encouraged today!