In Genesis 12, God speaks to Abraham and the Bible tells us, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.'” (Genesis 12:1-3)
God promised that He would make of Abraham a great nation. However, for many many years God did not allow Abraham’s wife to bear any children. In chapter 16, Sarah (Abraham’s wife) finally got tired of waiting and told him to also marry her maid Hagar, so at least Abraham would have a child from which to create this great nation that God had promised. Of course, as soon as Hagar became pregnant with Abraham’s first child, Sarah got angry that God had given Hagar Abraham’s first born son and not Sarah. She thought she had to step in and make God’s promise work.
The Bible tells us that Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar’s son was born to Him.
Then, in Genesis 17, God again promises Abraham that He would make of him a great nation and that he would have many descendants, and by that time Abraham was 99 years old. And, in Genesis 18, God visits Abraham and tells him, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” (Genesis 18:10).
Now, being almost 100 years old, Sarah laughed and the Bible tells us, “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ And the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old? Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.'” (Genesis 18:11-14)
It all seemed hopeless to Sarah, but in Genesis 21, we read, “So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.” (Genesis 21:2)
God had years earlier promised that He would make of Abraham a great nation. And AFTER everything seemed hopeless, when it seemed impossible that He would actually make good on His promise, the Bible tells us “AT THE APPOINTED TIME…” Sarah had a son. Notice what God said to Abraham, “Is ANYTHING too difficult for the LORD?” God’s promise to Abram was fulfilled. But NOT when Abram and Sarah expected it. It was when it seemed like it would NEVER happen that God gave them the son He had promised. It was not according to Abram’s timing, but according to Almighty God’s timing that it happened.
Sometimes we get discouraged and try to rush things in our lives. We wonder why nothing seems to be happening the way we think it should. We may even laugh at God’s promises as Sarah did, and say, “Well, that’s never going to work for me, it’s too late!”. And like Sarah getting angry because God gave Hagar a son, but wouldn’t let her have any children, we get angry because God seems to do things for OTHER people, but not us sometimes. However, God knows EXACTLY what He is doing!
We have to understand that God DOES NOT work on our time table or according to OUR plans. Everything that He has promised WILL one day come to pass. Even when it seems IMPOSSIBLE for things to happen, NOTHING is impossible with God! We HAVE TO TRUST GOD! I CANNOT stress that point enough! The Bible CLEARLY tells us, “And WITHOUT FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please him…” (Hebrews 11:6) Complete TRUST and FAITH in GOD are CRITICAL to living this Christian Life!