Genesis 21:1-2; Hebrews11:11-12

Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.^[1]

By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.^[2]

Having received a promise from the the Lord, it now became Abraham’s responsibility to activate his faith to receive it. By the time the promise was made Abraham and Sarah were well beyond child bearing age. The idea that a pregnancy could occur was even incredible to Sarah herself, so much so that she laughed at the idea. Without being crass, Isaac could not have been born had Abraham not impregnated Sarah.

The idea was outlandish, even ridiculous. Sarah was past the age of giving birth and Abraham was no doubt impotent. Some would look at their situation and conclude, promise or not, conception was not a realistic expectation. But that is precisely the point where faith takes over. That is a tangible demonstration of the words of Hebrews, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” No reasonable person would dare hold on to such a promise in the hopes of it coming to fruition and yet Abraham AND Sarah did.

Note what it took for them to live in the realm of faith over this issue. Abraham had to believe God, strengthen himself, get beyond any fear and lay with Sarah until she conceived. Sarah had to believe God, strengthen herself, get beyond any fear and ALLOW Abraham to lay with her until she conceived. Faith became very real for them both. Sarah had already tried to circumvent the promise with Hagar and it had been a disaster. She could have given up and not cooperated, but instead she activated her faith and the result is that we are now the seed of Abraham. What has God promised you? It is time to activate your faith if you want to receive it, no matter how long it takes.

Our Father and our God, You have promised us so much that we have yet to receive. We confess our faith is challenged the more incredible and impossible the promise. We are challenged to believe the impossible and then we are challenged to wait for the fulfillment of the promise. We want to be like Abraham and Sarah who conquered their crisis of faith and proactively lived it out. Help us to do more than go through the motions. Help us to activate our faith to the point that we confidently step into the unknown trusting and believing that Your promises are still yes and amen. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ge 21:1–2.

^[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Heb 11:11–12.