Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time together. Please bless us with the discernment of your will for us this day, and give us the faith and strength necessary to accomplish whatever you have marked out for us. All this we ask in the name of Jesus…whom we love and adore. Amen! Genesis 18; 1, 2, 9-15 (NKJV)
18 Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground…
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
So he said, “Here, in the tent.”
10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.
And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
First of all, sorry for my tardiness in not getting this in for it to be posted first thing this morning…and a BIG THANKS to Kenda and Kelly for all their work…which sometimes includes enduring those who can’t seem to get their stuff together…me.
In keeping with the theme from Pastors sermon on Sunday…”We desperately need to be centered around God, not be the center”…we have the story of one of the patriarchs who’s family is visited by the Lord himself and a couple of His Angels…and this is not the first time! Abraham immediately recognizes them and greats them as expected. God tells Abraham His plan for blessing he and Sarah with a son, while in the meantime, Sarah…
who was listening in the tent door which was behind him…” laughed within herself”…not the laughter of joy, but the laughter of doubt…laughter that she thought only she would know about…where she was the center…and even though maybe only momentarily, totally oblivious to the one Who’s presence she was in…even though, she was “just behind the door”.
Recognize any of this from your life story?...ever doubted, even though you felt His presence?...knowing that He is all knowing?
…and then Sarah…and I bet Abraham, too…probably get the shock of their lives…God calls Sarah out! And in customary sinful action…Sarah explicitly denies her laughing at what God had to say...because she was “afraid” (sort of sounds like another story back in the beginning when the Lord is looking for another one of His children). Then, the “all knowing” Lord & Father of the universe…without condemnation, marked only by the truth…admonishes Sarah…“No, but you did laugh!”
Ya know, I’m thankful God cared enough to reprimand Sarah. I think that goes to one of my take-aways from this story and this series that Pastor has us walking through…I probably should be thankful, every time, my Lord chooses to reprimand me, and receive it with great humility…because He does care…about me…and all his believing children.
…and how so?...just think about it. Even though there was doubt cast toward Gods divine plan by one of His children, whom he had just blessed with His presence and the proclamation of a miraculous gift…they were not excluded from His presence. The one true Father of us all, chose to bless them…draw Abraham and Sarah back to His center…with His mercy…His grace…His unmerited favor…by delivering on His promises. Sound familiar?
I…and your fellow bloggers…would sure like to hear your thoughts!
Blessings to you and to yours,
jwb