because you're still waiting...
She was ninety years old. 9-0. For nine decades she had existed, and for at least 6 of those decades, her womb ached to be filled with a baby.
It wasn't that she didn't want children. She did. She couldn't have them. There are situations in life when you don't get what you want, and this was her reality. They had tried. For years, they had given their best efforts, and yet every month the painful reminder of her barrenness made its unwelcomed appearance. Decades passed, each one with hope that maybe just maybe a child would come, and here she stood empty handed. A woman who was going to be the mother of a great nation. Ironic that God would give her such a calling, make such a promise, and yet give her no child to show for it.
But God showed up. On a day unexpected, in a way unanticipated, at the right time - not according to her time - she found out she was going to be a mother. "Ha! A mother?!," she thought to herself. Seemed that this announcement was coming about 60 years too late. And why, now? Why not when she had the energy and stamina to keep up with a baby? Plus, carrying a baby? Her body was well past its childbearing years. Birthing a baby was going to be just about as impossible as was the probability of making one. After all, her husband was no spring chicken at the mature age of 99. The timing didn't seem quite right. The odds were stacked against her. And I have to believe the Sarah really wondered if this long awaited promise was truly coming to fruition even though the Lord himself had come with a name, a timeline, and a due date.
It's hard to wait, especially in an instant society. A society that has a "fix" for just about anything you need. It's hard to wait when others are living out the dream you've prayed for yourself, and especially when you feel like you've waited long enough. Sure, in the grand scheme of eternity, what's a few years? But in the grand scheme of mortality, a few years makes a huge difference. Yet when you've put forth effort, when you've tried, when you've prayed and hoped and trusted God, you wonder why you're still waiting and others have moved forward to the next place you've hoped to be by now.
But God shows up. On a day unexpected, in a way unanticipated, at just the right time, He finds you right where you are and he says, "Let's do this. It's time." Why now, you ask? Because now, God gets the glory. Now, there is no other explanation aside from the fact that God is a miracle maker - a mountain mover. And now, there's no guessing that it's His will. There's no wondering if this is what He really wants. This is His hand at work because God will never make a promise that He does not intend to fulfill. He will never give you a calling for which he doesn't sufficiently and adequately prepare and equip you. And God isn't going to ask you to carry out a plan that He hasn't already written from beginning to end.
And so we wait on the Lord. We wait on our salvation. We wait on Him to move and direct. And we trust that each step we take forward in faith, even if it is a small, mundane, seemingly unimportant step, it is preparing us for that moment when it's time. Because we know, nothing is too difficult for our God. And we know that He who promises is faithful.
"It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise." - Hebrews 11:11
It wasn't that she didn't want children. She did. She couldn't have them. There are situations in life when you don't get what you want, and this was her reality. They had tried. For years, they had given their best efforts, and yet every month the painful reminder of her barrenness made its unwelcomed appearance. Decades passed, each one with hope that maybe just maybe a child would come, and here she stood empty handed. A woman who was going to be the mother of a great nation. Ironic that God would give her such a calling, make such a promise, and yet give her no child to show for it.
But God showed up. On a day unexpected, in a way unanticipated, at the right time - not according to her time - she found out she was going to be a mother. "Ha! A mother?!," she thought to herself. Seemed that this announcement was coming about 60 years too late. And why, now? Why not when she had the energy and stamina to keep up with a baby? Plus, carrying a baby? Her body was well past its childbearing years. Birthing a baby was going to be just about as impossible as was the probability of making one. After all, her husband was no spring chicken at the mature age of 99. The timing didn't seem quite right. The odds were stacked against her. And I have to believe the Sarah really wondered if this long awaited promise was truly coming to fruition even though the Lord himself had come with a name, a timeline, and a due date.
It's hard to wait, especially in an instant society. A society that has a "fix" for just about anything you need. It's hard to wait when others are living out the dream you've prayed for yourself, and especially when you feel like you've waited long enough. Sure, in the grand scheme of eternity, what's a few years? But in the grand scheme of mortality, a few years makes a huge difference. Yet when you've put forth effort, when you've tried, when you've prayed and hoped and trusted God, you wonder why you're still waiting and others have moved forward to the next place you've hoped to be by now.
But God shows up. On a day unexpected, in a way unanticipated, at just the right time, He finds you right where you are and he says, "Let's do this. It's time." Why now, you ask? Because now, God gets the glory. Now, there is no other explanation aside from the fact that God is a miracle maker - a mountain mover. And now, there's no guessing that it's His will. There's no wondering if this is what He really wants. This is His hand at work because God will never make a promise that He does not intend to fulfill. He will never give you a calling for which he doesn't sufficiently and adequately prepare and equip you. And God isn't going to ask you to carry out a plan that He hasn't already written from beginning to end.
And so we wait on the Lord. We wait on our salvation. We wait on Him to move and direct. And we trust that each step we take forward in faith, even if it is a small, mundane, seemingly unimportant step, it is preparing us for that moment when it's time. Because we know, nothing is too difficult for our God. And we know that He who promises is faithful.
"It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise." - Hebrews 11:11
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