Verse
of the day: Genesis 21:1 And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.
Is there
anything too difficult, or impossible, for our God to do? The short answer is “no”.
In this chapter we see God do what was impossible for man to accomplish. Both
Abraham and Sarah have had their failures in their walk with God up to this
point in their life. The Word of God does not sugarcoat the failures of the
people God has used greatly. That is both a blessing, and an encouragement, for
us today, as it shows us that God can use anyone who is willing to be used,
even when we do not walk perfectly with God. However, this is really not about
Abraham and Sarah; this is all about God. It is all about God’s faithfulness,
power, and grace in responding to those who have faith, even as small as a
mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). Hebrews 11:11 tells us that, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive
seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged
Him faithful who had promised.” We know that Sarah previously had some
doubt about God’s promise to them that she would conceive and give birth to a
son (Gen 18:9-15). Here, in this chapter, we see that her laughter is not one
of doubt, but one of joy and wonder at God’s faithfulness to them (verses 6-7).
In spite of both Abraham’s and Sarah’s bouts of doubt in Egypt, Gerar, and
Sarah’s response to God’s promise, God did not withdraw His promise or change
His mind about using them in bringing about a great nation from which our Savior
would come from. The bottom line in this is that our faithfulness to God or
lack thereof is not what determines whether or not God will continue to be
faithful to us. God is God regardless of who we are or whether or not we
believe. Not only did God demonstrate His faithfulness to them, but He
demonstrated His power to do the impossible (Matt 19:26; Luke 1:37). Over and
over again we read instances in which God demonstrates His omnipotence in His
interactions with man, and His intercession for His people; the parting of the
Red Sea (Exodus 14), or making the sun stand still (Joshua 10:1-15), just to
name a couple. Regardless of what we are praying about, or who we are praying
for, if what we are praying is in accordance with God’s will, and plan, and is
not being asked for selfish reasons, but with God’s glory as the driving force
for our prayers, know that God will answer in His time, and in His way. James
4:3 tells us, “You ask and do
not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” There is so much that we
miss out on because we lack faith in thinking that God can use us in greater
ways than we could ever imagine. Sadly, we fail to believe that God can do
great things in our lives because we often want Him to accomplish things, or
give us things, that are selfishly motivated in nature, or would bring Him no
glory. Finally, we see God’s amazing grace in Abraham’s and Sarah’s life. God
was not obligated to use them or give them anything. God not only saw and dealt
with their moments of failure, when they failed to trust Him completely, but in
choosing to use them, God already knew that they would not walk perfectly
before Him, even before He made His promise to them. Today, we, who know Jesus
as our Savior, and were saved when we called upon Him by faith, were already
known by God. He already knew our past failures, present failures, and future
failures. In spite of that, He did not deny us the opportunity to obtain
eternal life in Christ; for we were chosen in Christ, even before the
foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). What an amazing thought, that God knew
us even before we were conceived, yet today He is still gracious to us,
faithful to us, and works supernaturally in our lives when we live our lives
with even the smallest of faith. Praise be to our God who is God, and is always
good to us, regardless of who we are or how much faith we have. Our God is a
big God; let us give Him room to be God in our lives, and take Him out of the box
we have put Him in, in our lives.
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