READ: Genesis 21:1
CHALLENGE: Experience Joy
Vv 1-7 – Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
- GOD IS GRACIOUS
V1 – The LORD was gracious.
The LORD was gracious. LORD, the creator and owner of the world and author of all life – your life. The one who names the stars. The one who sets the boundaries of nations. The healer of broken hearts. The one who answers prayer, who forgives sins, and who carries our burdens. The all powerful and all know God did something super special in the life of Sarah.
This should not be surprising as every blessing comes from above – from the Father of Heavenly Lights. Every cool thing we accomplish is by God’s grace. Do we believe that?
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 – You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
The LORD was gracious. In this case, it means that He gave her something she could never have except by his hand. He benefited her and it was EXTRA. A woman, who in her old age, would conceive and raise a child. The grace here was clearly miraculous and went above and beyond!
However, let’s not discount the amazing regular aspects of God’s grace either. Common grace would include both rain and sunshine. It would include food and joy in our hearts. I sense it in small moments when God seems especially near. When he turns your steps at just the right time to encounter something you needed or what someone else needed. It’s the ordering of our steps.
Illustration:
In this case, Sarah will have a child. It had been a source of frustration and great pain for decades, but God took that away by giving her Isaac. This didn’t remove all the prior difficult or sad days. However, God’s grace gave her something beautiful to focus on rather than the pain of prior years.
Isn’t it like this? We may experience extraordinary difficulties but then God pours amazing blessings into our laps and that becomes our focus and beautifies our world. We can see something other than negatives, ugliness, losses, rejection, injustices, and hurts. Grace has come.
What are you focused on? It would be sad to have God give us something beautiful, yet we only focus on the ugliness. This was a time for Sarah to forget the former things.
Isaiah 43:18 – “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
God’s blessings can give us something else to focus on rather than all the nastiness we experience in the world. I wonder if she whined about all the hardships and relational hurts and bad decisions and surprises and every difficult part of her life journey. You can look at problems or blessings. What’s your focus?
And let’s note, he’s gracious to Sarah. It’s personal. God’s grace is poured out on this individual’s life. There’s something beautiful about impacting someone’s life. God doesn’t just love the world, He loves you. His grace is not just poured out on the world, it’s poured on you.
It’s like we’re at a dinner table and we have glasses and we fill the glasses with liquid whether water or iced tea or something else. We fill them up! This is like God, pouring grace into our lives as we thirst. I appreciate that grace is extended to us specifically. It’s to us and for us.
Parents may know that they make a meal for the family but it’s also for the individual. Cassie can’t have eggs. Some of us like hot peppers while others don’t. So, then the dish is modified for the individual! Such is God’s grace!
Psalm 23:5 – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
You prepare a table. My cup overflows. There’s abundance and more than enough. I appreciate his abundance. I appreciate His help and it’s a great reminder in difficult days. How has God blessed you recently?
- GOD KEEPS PROMISES
Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
God was gracious to Sarah AS HE HAD SAID because God keeps His word we can count on God to keep all of His promises. He said she would have a child and she gave birth to Isaac. God had repeatedly communicated that promise over the years.
Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any control over WHEN the promise would be fulfilled but they could daily live in hope because of the rock solid promise of God. So can we!
“As he had said.” How powerful are God’s words? He spoke the world into existence. Let there be light and there was light! Let Sarah become pregnant and she became pregnant. Isaiah said that God’s words would not return to him empty but would accomplish what they were supposed to do. When God decides that something will happen, there is no blocking it or stopping it.
I think of Jesus stilling the storm. He spoke and a ferocious storm instantly and laid down like a peaceful lamb. He would order a demon out and it came out. If he told a leper to be cleansed, they were cleansed.
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Hebrews says that’s God word is powerful and effective. There’s nothing I can say that’s more moving than the simple word of God. God’s word includes promises and commitments to us in writing and found in the Bible. Let’s get into His word!
It was said of Samuel that God made sure that none of his words ever hit the ground and all that he said came true. In volleyball, the name of the game is to keep the ball in the air and heading over to the other side of the net. You never want the ball to hit the floor lest the other team score. God’s promises are like volleyball and God’s not going to allow His words to hit the ground.
She had a child because God promised she would. If God had not promised it, it would not have become a reality. The child stepped into history because God is powerful enough and honest enough to keep His word. God does not lie, therefore his words are as good as gold.
God’s promises are a message of hope. They’re a coach cheering us on. They are a map to a lost person; a flashlight in the dark. We build confidence for living based on the promises of God. They become an important base camp from which we operate in the world. How important are the promises of God? Which do we rely on?
I often rely on the one that tells us we can ask God for wisdom and he will give it. I count on it because I need it. Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
In another place it says, “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved”. In yet another it says if we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins. How amazing.
God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He promises that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church. As the book of Isaiah promised you, no weapon formed against you will prevail. Accusations will fall like a leaf falls harmlessly on your yard.
We have much to give us confidence.
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Abraham how have a baby thanks to God’s grace in their lives.
- GOD’S WORK LEADS TO OBEDIENCE
He did what God had commanded him. He circumcised Isaac at 8 days old as God had commanded. We don’t know everything about life, but one great lesson is to do what you know is right. Everything will follow from good behaviors and disciplines.
I remember talking to a woman about what God said in the Bible and she told me “I know that’s what it says BUT that’s not what I’m going to do”. Right there you’re on a collision course with unhappiness. You don’t get to pick and choose. Simple obedience leads to blessing!
I love the straight forward simplicity of the Bible starting with believing in Jesus Christ. John 6:40 – For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. What’s God’s will? Believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus said that he came that we could all have a fulfilling life in him.
If you’re looking for answers, let’s start there. Paul said to set your mind on things above, not on things below. This is such phenomenal advice really because we can get caught up in all the nonsense and lose track of what God wants us to be doing. There can be a real lack of joy in the rat race. Don’t focus on what you don’t control – focus on the one who has the world in his hands.
Keeping the Sabbath day holy and not doing just whatever you please – just read that verse. I was thinking – better be careful if you want God’s blessings!
Simple obedience is coming to church, serving, loving others, being honest, maintaining sexual purity. It’s good to know what God expects from us.
Abraham did as God commanded him to do. It was simple but that simple obedience was profound.
- GOD BRINGS JOY (vv6-7)
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
I love how God brings laughter to her. And not only for Sarah but others would share in laughing with her. It could be a laughter of “yeah right” or the laughter of joy. In this case, it’s rejoicing.
Let’s note the source of laughter! God. When you’re connected to God and doing the right things there should be laughter! This world is so crazy, we’ve got to be able to laugh from time to time.
God has the ability to restore joy into your hearts if you let him. There is nothing greater than a smile. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see joy on my grandson’s face.
Illustration:
God loves to see joy in our lives. It comes through faith and obedience and God’s blessings. There is so much to be happy about. We used to sing a song about joy. I’ve got the joy joy joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. And joy is something people cannot take away. It’s deep down.
Paul spoke to heathens and told them that it was God who filled their hearts with joy. I’m so interested that God does things to bring laughter into our lives. It’s a godly thing. We as believers don’t want to be ultra sour about everything either. We don’t want to complain non-stop.
Sarah lived in a godless culture as well but God brought laughter to her life. Sure, there’s all kinds of nonsense but it doesn’t mean we can’t experience joy and when you see something, don’t blow by it.
When I do weddings I’ll talk about it smiling in the small moments. When you fall and no one saw it, it’s a waste of a fall. I think it’s great if my family can laugh at me and they do! And I laugh at them as well. You have to take those moments and enjoy life together.
I know family has brought me so much joy. Friends have. Serving has. There are so many things that God has done to bring happiness to our lives. I love God for it. It’s important.
What has God done for you to bring laughter into your life.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 – This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
Ecclesiastes says that God brings joy in the journey. She bore him a son. She would nurse him and it was all pure joy. Family has a way of bringing that. And she’s so happy that others rejoice with her.
Reminds me of those finding the kingdom of God. It’s the rescuing of the lost sheep. The finding of the lost coin. The return of the Prodigal. All of these things bring joy. There are many spiritual things that bring happiness.
I don’t believe it’s always going to be monetary rewards and those who believe that are not on the right path. I’m not looking for a million dollars. A nice view is great too. Just relaxing and being with family and friends, that’s awesome as well. Seeing the moon rise. Seeing a sunset. Looking at nature. Just having a sense of humor is a God thing. Laugh people.
CONCLUSION: