Celebrating the Unexpected

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 

Once Sarah’s laughter was almost a mockery of God’s promise; in the end it was the celebration of the unexpected gift of promise-fulfilled.  This should give us all hope that, having a second chance, even in the face of our defeats and wrong choices is (and always has been) God’s plan.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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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^©   

Lenten Walk - Part 8

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Monday, February 26, 2018

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^(NLT)

We live less than a mile from a huge retirement center.  I have never seen a birth announcement with that address, nor have I heard the crying of a baby, or seen tricycles or inflatable bouncy things ready for a toddler birthday party in the common building.  Modern science may be incredibly advanced, but in the normal course of events, you never find pre-natal vitamins in an octogenarian’s medicine cabinet!

But that is exactly what transpired here.  Sarah, who had laughed at the very idea of a woman about to turn 90 giving birth, was now filled with joy and laughter, as any new first-time mother.  And 100 year-old Abraham, Sarah’s husband, bouncing his new son on his knee was the talk of the village!

In yesterday’s account of Abraham and Sarah stepping out of God’s will with the whole Hagar thing…thinking that somehow putting aside God’s Plan A would make the final outcome better…when God doesn’t have a Plan B…well, that didn’t turn out so well.  The fallout of Sarah trying to impose her will against God’s plan was that Hagar, the servant girl, despised her mistress, Sarah and treated her with contempt.  Sarah over-reacted, blaming Abraham, who washed his hands of the whole thing, and Hagar got chased from the camp, wound-up with the scorpions and wild beasts in the desert, just waiting for death to take her and her son Ishmael.  In the end – to this day – there has been no end of hatred between the descendants of Hagar and Sarah.  Human Plan B’s never fare well where God’s will is concerned.

By comparison, today’s account is the evidence of God’s Plan A nursing in Sarah’s embrace.  The laughter of the blessed mother rings through the camp, and Abraham’s faith is stronger than ever.

It is amazing what God can do in spite of us trying to help Him along!

For You Today

If you tend to put your trust in technology, science, economics and the strong back you were born with, let me suggest that you put those on hold for a while and lay all of your weight on the God who gave all that stuff, and expects us to use it, but not depend on it!  Our trust – our faith belongs to God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Lenten Walk - Part 7

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Friday, February 23, 2018

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him.  But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.  So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children.  Go and sleep with my servant.  Perhaps I can have children through her.”  And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.  So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife.  (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.)  So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant.  But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt.  Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault!  I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt.  The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!”  Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.”  Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.  Genesis 16:1-6^(NLT)

Abram [later Abraham] is called the father of the Jewish community.  It is said of him in Scripture that he believed, or placed his faith in God, and that was why God accepted and blessed Abraham.  It is also true that Abraham was not perfect in this; he caved to his wife’s “plan B” of gaining an heir through a servant girl.

Trying to put myself in Abram’s shoes when it comes to walking the walk to which God has called me, I can imagine how tough it was to face the reality that he was over 80 and still without an heir.  In terms of sticking with Plan A, it was getting really problematic!  And then there was the voice of Sarai, his wife of many years, apparantly barren, and depressed over that, and the heir problem; she suggests Plan B and the conflict is game-on! 

What is a guy to do?  Should he hear his wife’s plan?  After all, having a child with a servant wasn’t unheard of in that culture.  Should he stick to the original promise?  The biological reality was looming large; Sarai was way past child-bearing age and perhaps this thing about having a child with the servant girl, Hagar could actually be God’s will…what is a guy to do?

The spiritual discipline of Lent is a mystery in terms of what constitutes the most beneficial way to wade through the waters of seven weeks of spiritual preparation for the most important event we celebrate in the calendar of human existence…the anniversary of the resurrection of Messiah.  This whole season is designed for introspection and clearing the pathway for a King to reside in our hearts.  The reality about such discipline is the more deeply you look inside, the more muddy the waters can become.  How do you make preparation for the God of the universe to live in you?   

Well, one of the things we can say in response to that is to remember how wrong it went for Abram and Sarai to derail Plan A in favor of bringing Hagar into the bedroom.  Hagar became a thorn in the side of this operation, and the result has been contention down through the centuries between the children of Hagar and the offspring of Sarai.  It’s always a clearer decision in the daylight of retrospect, but choosing to do God’s will, no matter what, is always the right response to God’s call…even when it looks like the well has gone dry on God’s promise.

For You Today

If you’re wrestling with a decision through this season of preparing a clean place to host your Savior, try to remember that your cleaning tool must also be clean.  The most expedient answer isn’t always the best, and the easiest pathway is seldom the best.  Accept the burden of being kind, going the extra mile, and being a source of extravagant, unknown generosity towards those who are in the center of your decision.

Then watch God unfold his plan.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com