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Sarah's Faith

 The author of Hebrews might have made a mistake. In chapter 11 we read this praise of Sarah: “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”

 

By faith? Since when was Sarah a hero of the faith? Her very name in this great faith chapter is surprising enough, but to credit her miraculous delivery of Isaac to her faith seems downright wrong. Don’t you remember when Sarah laughed at God? 

 

Genesis 18:10-12 records the event. “The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 

 

In the next verses the Lord asked Sarah why she laughed, and she denied laughing, but the Lord reiterated the promise: “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

 

Did the author of Hebrews skip Sunday school the day they taught this chapter? Doesn’t he know that Sarah laughed and doubted God? How can he say she had her son by faith? 

 

In Sarah’s defense, the Lord did not identify Himself to her as God. He came with two other visitors in human form, so she did not know this was a divine prophecy. And one chapter earlier Abraham laughed at the same promise. 

 

But more than that, God was not as concerned with Sarah’s initial reaction as with her eventual obedience. Even if her initial reaction was to laugh, the more important detail is that she ultimately chose to believe God, even in the face of impossibility. She and her husband were old and childless, as barren as the desert where they lived.  

 

That’s what faith is, having a firm conviction in things hoped for, yet still unseen. 

 

Genesis 18:14 asks the question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Sarah did not answer that question in Genesis, but she answered it in Hebrews 11:11, “she considered him faithful who had promised.” Genesis is not the final word on Sarah’s faith; Hebrews is. 

 

Maybe you have balked at God or His promises, but it is not your initial reaction that matters most, but your eventual obedience. Put your faith in God and His word, and watch Him do the impossible through you. 

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