“And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.” (Genesis 21:6)
This is what Sarah said when Isaac was born. She was 90 years old and Abraham was 100 years old. The word “laugh” used in this Scripture means to laugh with pleasure. I can imagine the joy at seeing God’s promise. Sarah was well pass the time to bear a child and so was Abraham. It was an impossible promise that took 25 years in coming. In that time, Sarah and Abraham took matters into their hands and thought that maybe God would use Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave handmaiden. They turned to human reasoning instead of faith. But God says what He means and means what He says. That’s something we should never forget.
After Isaac was born, Sarah and Abraham realized the error they’d made. But it was too late. Now a different nation was born of Ishmael. And these have been at war since then.
We have received many promises. They are all written for us in God’s Word. If we have faith, believe without a doubt whatsoever, we will see those promises in our lives. To believe without a doubt is the clincher. Many of us have memories of our sins. This brings doubt. “If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is greater than our conscience and that He knows everything. And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have courage in God's presence. We receive from Him whatever we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.” (1John 3:20-22) We can believe God’s promises, but because our hearts condemn us, there arises doubt that God will fulfill His promises to us. When we are repentant of our sins and confess them as the Lord reveals them to us for what they are, sin, we can repent and ask the Lord’s forgiveness. Our conscious is cleansed, and we can ask in confidence and have no doubt.
Some of us have received personal promises. This is Scriptural, but let’s make sure it’s in line with God’s Word and His Will and Promises. It’s easy for the enemy of God to take God’s Promises to us and speak lies. Yes, it may be God’s Promise, but we take off and begin to do our own thing, prodded by pride in self. If it’s God’s Will, He will bring it to pass so that we can say that it is truly a work of God.
How do we know what to do, whether to go ahead or wait? First and foremost, prayer is vital; praise and thanksgiving. Wait for confirmation which may come in the form of an open door, circumstances in which you can just walk into and begin God’s Will. Confirmation can also come from others who speak God’s Will into your life. But the timing is God’s. Commit it to the Lord. And follow peace.
We need to be so careful because there is nothing more God’s enemy would love to do is to get you off on the wrong path. Let’s look at Abraham and Sarah. There seemed to be an open door to make God’s promise happen. Abraham and Sarah were anxious for God’s promise to come. Hagar was available. It was customary in those days for concubines, or slave wives to bear children for the free wife if she couldn’t have children. In Abraham and Sarah’s case, this was not God’s Will. Hagar did not fulfill God’s promise. God’s promise was for Abraham’s heir to come from Sarah, his free wife. So, Isaac, born of Sarah and Abraham, represents us, children of faith, children born free and of God.
When God puts in your heart a desire and a promise, protect it, guard it. Nurture it with prayer. And wait for God’s promise to be fulfilled in God’s perfect timing. “The LORD gave me this answer: "Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3)
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