ON THE VANGUARD

TOO HARD?
“’Is anything too hard for ADONAI? At the time set for it, at this season next year, I will return to you; and Sarah will have a son.’”
Genesis 18:14

We read in Genesis 17:16 of God once again promising Abraham a son. This time, however, He specifically states that the son will come from Sarah, whose name was just changed, in stating, “I will give you a son by her.” Yet when the three men approach Abraham in Genesis 18:12 to once again share the plans and promises of God concerning His people, Sarah laughed. I cannot help but wonder if Abraham forgot to pass on the message from his previous conversations with God. I mean, seriously, did Sarah not get the memo? For the past 14 years since the birth of Ishmael, God continued to speak about this promise with Abraham. Now that it was on the brink of happening, Sarah doubted and laughed.
If I may interject here, I would like to add that this response is something that I too have done. There have been instances in my past when God has promised me something. It isn’t that I doubt He can do it, but it is more so that I question, “Why have You wanted till now?” For example, for years I have felt this urge to write a book. I received His promise that I would write and be published back in 1996, when I was in college. I have tried a few times, knowing the topic and title, but in every attempt I failed. By 2006 I had already started and quit a rough draft five times. Then in 2007 I was served divorce papers. I thought at that time that many of the things that I had heard God say or felt He had promised were never going to come about. But as I would spend time with Him, working to be healed from the pains of divorce and who I had become, God began to reinstate His plans for me. Suddenly, what looked to be an empty dream from God, what looked to be a broken promise, was beginning to take shape. On January 1, 2009, in prayer alone just after the ball dropped, I heard Him as clear as day say to me that now was the time. But why did it take so long. In all those failed attempts I was not writing from experience.
I can relate to Sarah. As she looked at her age as the blockage, I looked at my divorce. We both laughed because we both thought we were too far gone. But I love the rebuke that Sarah received, and in many ways that I also received. “’Is anything too hard for ADONAI?” Absolutely not. I have come to realize the same thing that I imagine Sarah learned that day when she was rebuked. God is able to do more than I could ever imagine. And why not; that is His character. Ephesians 3:20 records Paul stating that God is able to do far beyond anything we can ask or imagine because of His power working in us. At that moment when once again the men declared that Sarah would give birth within the year, His power was working. And in that moment when I found myself praying and crying out to God, His power was working.
Sarah did receive her child, and the nation of Israel was one step closer to being birthed, for from Isaac would come Jacob to whom the twelve tribes would be fathered. As for me, that night set me into motion. Empowered by God, I found myself unable to put the pen down. I have since written my promised book and am in the revising stages at this time. My own Isaac is in the birthing stages. So then, is anything too hard for Adonai? Absolutely not. I wonder where you are. Has God given you also a promise that has not yet come to pass? And was the promise so big that you could not help but laugh? I tell you, when God speaks concerning us and His plans for us, you can guarantee that it will come to pass. It might not be in our time, but in the time set, our Isaac will be birthed.