1. Abraham and God’s Amazing Promise
“I saw you laughing!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did!”
“No, I didn’t!”
“Yes, you did!” Abraham said to his wife Sarah. Sarah did laugh! But now she
was afraid to say so because
she laughed at something she heard God say to Abraham. What God said was
not a joke but what Sarah heard
God say to Abraham was so crazy and impossible that it made her laugh. God
does like to do
crazy and impossible things but they are all always wonderful things. So why did
Sarah laugh? To find that out,
we’ll have to go back in this story a little bit. Many many years before, God had
promised Abraham that he would be the
father of a great nation, of many nations. God said that from him would come as
many children as there were stars in the sky. That was God’s
amazing promise to Abraham and to Sarah. But years went by and still Abraham
and Sarah didn’t have
any children of their own. Not even one. Until the day Sarah laughed. On that day
Abraham was sitting by the door of his tent. He looked
up and saw three men standing in front of him. As soon as he saw them, he ran
to them,
greeted them and told them, “I am here to serve you.” And so Abraham prepared
fresh water and food for the strangers. When all was ready,
he brought the meal to his guests and served them. “Where is your wife Sarah?”,
one of the strangers asked.
“She is inside the tent.”, Abraham said.
“Nine months from now, I will come back and your wife will have a son.”
Now, Sarah was
standing inside the tent and when she heard what the stranger said, she thought
to herself, “How can I have
a son when I am so old!” The thought of it was so funny, she laughed.
But God promised them
a son and even though Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was 90 years old
at the time, nine months
later she did have a son! Just as God had promised!
Abraham named his son
Isaac, which means “Laughter”.
Our God can do such amazing things and He always keeps His promises!