Laughing at the God of the impossible

And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. – Genesis 18.9-15

This whole saga can be almost be humorous at times if it were not so real and so much like us and our dealings with God. Abraham and Sarah were not bad guys, they were not ungodly. Today they would be the best Christians you would come across. And still they had their problems. I like that because I have my problems as well and battle them every day.

Sarah was a great woman of God, but here we see one of her mistakes.

Abraham had visitors. I am not sure about all the theology and how it all worked out, but we know these were heavenly messengers. Many people, me included, think that one of them was an incarnation of Jesus Himself.

The message these men brought was clear. Next year this time Sarah is going to actually give birth to a son. No tricks, no gimmicks, manipulation. Sarah was well and truly going to have a son. Hers and Abraham’s son. Their own flesh and blood.

When Sarah heard this she laughed. From the context we know it was not a laugh of joy, that will come later. She laughed because it was so ridiculous. It was too late. God had waited too long. She was far too old to have a baby.

But it response to the laughter comes one of the great lines of scripture.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

And that is the question we need to ask ourselves when we are looking at the impossible. We may not laugh out loud, but there are times when we are looking at something that looks like it can’t happen and we say ‘yeah right God.’ When we do that are we not doing just like Sarah. Isn’t that our own way of laughing at God? This happens every time we doubt God’s ability to take care of us or provide for us.

But is anything too hard for Him? Is there any impossibility with God?

Of course not. Before we are too critical of Sarah perhaps we need to examine our own situations to see if we are laughing right alongside her.