The Last Laugh
“Sarah laughed within herself” Genesis 18:12a
God spoke to Abraham and told him that in about a year's time, his wife would finally have the son that was promised to them all those years back. They had been waiting many years for the Lord to bring about His promises. They had become impatient and took matters into their own hands, and it was no laughing matter. Sarah had given her husband her maid to sleep with. She wanted a child so badly that she was willing to allow her husband to sleep with a younger woman. The Lord rejected that child as the one to inherit the promises God was giving to this couple. The works of the flesh will always be rejected by the Lord if ever they are offered up, if you don't believe me just look at Caine and Abel.
But the Lord had come in chapter 18 to give them a timeline of when the promise would happen. It would be in a year, Sarah would conceive and have a son. When the Lord and the two angels who were speaking to Abraham at his tent said this promise, Sarah was listening and laughed in her heart. She said, “really in my 90-year-old body I am going to have a baby from my 99-year-old husband!” The Lord heard all that she thought and spoke to herself! He knows the intent of our hearts and discerns our thoughts. Sarah's chuckle was one of disbelief, and cynicism. But the Lord responded and called her out on it! She tried to deny that she did not laugh. But she did, and she was busted.
The Lord asks a question: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” The answer is a resounding NO! Mary the mother of our Lord would also ask a question, but it was a question out of honesty not of doubt. The angel that was sent to Mary told her almost the same thing God tells Sarah in Genesis 18. The angels said, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” The two responses are different because the two hearts are different. One questions and believes and the other doesn’t believe and questions. Thankfully the answer is still the same: “No”. Nothing is too difficult or hard for God. It is such a simple yet important reminder for us that we can take anything before a strong, and mighty God. Nothing is too difficult, or unimportant that He won't help with. He is able and more than capable. We limit Him in our human reasoning and understanding.
In the end, God gets the last laugh by giving Sarah a son. Do you know what this son's name is? Isaac. Do you know what Isaac means? Laughter. God got the last laugh.
Take it all to Him; He can handle the big stuff, and small stuff alike.
Agape - Pastor Frank
