Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said, “Yes, but 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.
Abraham was an old man, 99 years old. Sarah was right behind him at 90. Just as it is today, this was well past childbearing years. How in the world was God supposed to give Abraham more descendants than the sands on the beach if he had no kids and was too old to have them, now. It’s impossible, right?
Nope. Not for God.
Abraham’s question is similar to Mary’s. When the angel told the virgin Mary she would have a child, she asked how it could be. Then angel answered,
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” – Luke 1:37
Later, as Jesus was teaching His disciples, He told them,
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26
God, who created Abraham, Sarah, and everything else, who spoke galaxies into existence, was able. He still is.
With God All Things Are Possible
God certainly provided a son, Isaac, for Abraham and Mary had a baby, Jesus. This, along with Jesus words, shows us without a doubt that God can anything, even what we think is impossible.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we know God wants us to do something, but we don’t see how it can be done. In these times, it’s good to remember that you are dealing with the same God who gave Isaac and Jesus.
But Will He?
At the same time, I’ve seen people invoke these passages as proof that God will always do the impossible. It’s important to remember that there were plenty of people Abraham’s and Sarah’s ages at the time of Abraham who didn’t conceive a child.
When Jesus was first starting His ministry and some people just wanted to get some miracles out of Him and some home town fame, he reminded them,
And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed–only Naaman the Syrian.” – Luke 4:27
God certainly can do what would normally be impossible, but that doesn’t mean He always will.
Where does that leave us?
This leaves us walking down the middle of a road of faith. We should be careful not to stray to far to one side and assume that God will always do the miracle we want just because we want it or we think it’s best. At the same time, we should be careful not to stray to the other side and doubt God can do what He says if we don’t see a way for it to be done.
Instead, we walk in faith, trusting God will do what is best according to His will, even when it seems impossible, and trusting that His will is good, even when He doesn’t do the miracle we would have liked.
Lord,
Give me faith to trust Your promises. You are able to do what is impossible for us. You have created faith in me which was impossible for me to do, myself. Help me also to trust Your goodness when You choose not to do a miracle I want.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
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