Thursday,
June 15, 2023
The Lord kept
his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. She
became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it
would. And Abraham named their son Isaac. Eight
days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. Abraham
was 100 years old when Isaac was born. And Sarah declared, “God has brought me
laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. Who
would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old
age!” Genesis 21:1-7
Two poignant facts
emerge from the image of a 90-year-old woman nursing her newborn son:
1.
What a miracle she has experienced, which has brought overwhelming
joy where there only existed emptiness and resignation!
2.
Can she possibly have the energy to last through the terrible
twos?
I might (with all
respect) add a third thought about the father…he’s gonna be 120-years-old when
that kid starts college. Our last child
was born when I was 31, and it made me wonder if I’d have the strength.
We could call this
the unexpected event of a millennium, but all Sarah could think of was the joy
of that moment…she had to celebrate this unexpected gift from God. And that is entirely spot-on when you
suddenly realize you’re standing on holy ground, holding God’s promise in your
arms. It sounded too-good-to-be-true,
but it was thoroughly a God-thing. Sarah
had laughed at the idea when she was eavesdropping outside Abraham’s tent as
the Lord told him what to name the son (Isaac) his wife would bear next year. That was the skeptic’s unbelief; now it was
the laughter of the redeemed!
There are many
things about a walk with Jesus that fall into this category of unexpected joy, which dumbfound us,
and at the same time, bring overwhelming joy and faith. Every week during worship, as we approach corporate
prayer time, my heart breaks a little as the requests for prayer-support reveal
care and concern. But interspersed with
those are also prayers of thanksgiving as people celebrate the unexpected
answers that came to impossible situations, some undoubetedly miraculous, most a
simple sense of thankful awareness that God has graciously met a need.
I have always found
the timing of God impeccable, able to both unnerve me by revealing how tiny my faith
is, and at the same time bring a healing balm to that shaky faith. His ways are immeasurably above my
thinking.
For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:9
As Father’s Day
approaches I’m reminded of my Dad, and the many kindnesses of what he taught
me, both with words, and the way he lived a life of being useful and
caring. I’m also reminded of my journey
as a father – never perfect in knowing what to do, but always trying to learn
how to do better. And being so very blessed
to see and celebrate God’s unexpected gifts blessing our family.
For You Today
There are about 2,500 devotional
posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions
library. To dig deeper explore
some of these: Lenten Walk - Part 8 and Flamingled and Why There Should be Seatbelts on
Dentist's Chairs
Title Image:
via Pixabay.com Images without citation are in
public domain.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted
from The New Living Translation©
