The Purging of an Old Woman’s Faith
Adapted from Treasures of Faith
Sharon and Chuck Betters
Today’s Treasure
Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. . . . My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.
Genesis 17:19, 21
While Abraham’s faith was strong that God would indeed provide an heir, God still had work to do in Sarah’s heart. God sent three visitors to Abraham on the plains of Mamre. Two were angels (Genesis 19:1), and the third was the Lord Himself (Genesis 18).
Barren Sarah eavesdropped as the Lord told Abraham that she would deliver a son the following year. She laughed derisively at the thought (Genesis 18:12), and can we blame her? How could she take seriously anyone who claimed that her old shriveled womb would carry the child God had promised them? The Lord, aware of Sarah’s laughter, confronted 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” (13–14).
God knew Sarah’s heart response. He had heard her laugh even to herself. But instead of admitting her faithlessness, in fear, she denied it. God responded, “Yes, you did laugh” (v. 15) because He knew full well what was in her heart. Yet Sarah ultimately believed God. The New American Standard Bible has the best rendering of this passage from Hebrews:
By faith, even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
Hebrews 11:11
How tenderly God dealt with this elderly woman’s unbelief. After exposing her private, mocking, bitter laughter, God gently rebuked her for her unbelief with this question: Is anything too hard for the Lord? God’s proclamation and His past faithfulness, combined with His intimate knowledge of Sarah’s inner being, persuaded her that His promise could indeed be trusted. Though she appeared to be physiologically incapable of bearing a child, she still considered Him faithful. In turn, God would grant her “real laughter”—the sweet, glorious, joy-filled laughter that came the day her long-awaited son, Isaac, whose very name means “laughter,” was born to her.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Time and again Abraham had failed the trials of faith brought his way by God: by running to Egypt; by lying—not once, but twice—to try to protect himself; by attempting to fulfill God’s promises for an heir by coming up with, in collusion with Sarah, a half-baked idea of their own. Each of these spiritual tests left an indelible “scorch mark” that deepened his understanding of God’s character. But had these experiences prepared him for the ultimate test, had they prepared him to obey God above all, to put the commands of the Lord God before everything else he held dear?
Years after that miraculous day when Isaac was born, God made an astonishing demand of Abraham: “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about” (Genesis 22:2). What? Kill this child, so precious to him, the son for whom Abraham had longed all his life?
Abraham had failed so many lesser tests of faith, and yet, this time, Abraham obeyed immediately and completely:
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Hebrews 11:17–19
God doesn’t waste our failures when we turn to Him in godly sorrow that leads to repentance. A lifetime of experiencing his Father’s grace prepared Abraham for this seemingly impossible, outrageous demand. I wonder if in an instant Abraham replayed the many times God’s grace restored him and he concluded the Lord would strengthen him to obey. Or, was his response immediate because a lifetime of walking with God taught him supernatural trust in the hardest of places?
Friends, are you facing what seems impossible? Bring to mind the ways God has forgiven you, starting with redemption, how He has blessed you in spite of mistakes or intentional sin. Soak in this confidence – when God calls, He also equips.
PRAYER
Oh Lord, I pray for those who feel God has called them to an impossible crossroads – they cannot see the light or sense your presence. I think about the woman whose son is in jail for life, the mother whose daughter suddenly died, the wife whose husband abuses her and her children. These crossroads are impossible yet You promise to walk with us, to provide and guide each step of the way. May we trust You to keep Your promises.
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Sharon W. Betters is the author of Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, co-author of Treasures of Faith. and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace, Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture. She is Director of Resource Development and co-founder of MARKINC.org, a non-profit organization that offers help and hope to hurting people. Sharon enjoys quality time with her husband, children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.