God is Faithful!

Friends, it has been a week of God’s goodness here! We have had 280 children soaking up as much as they can about Jesus, hearing bible stories, doing science experiments, praying together, have music and worship, snacks, recreation, serving our community - it’s been a good week! VBS Sunday, and actually the weeks leading up to VBS are such a good example of God’s faithfulness to us. God's faithfulness is present always. Sometimes it can be hard to trust in God though, in what God says He can do. I don’t know about you, but I like to have things put into action after a plan or promise has been made. Waiting is not the fun part. At all. Remember when we were younger and we would wait for a birthday or Christmas - or anything exciting - or when your kids would wait - sometimes not patiently - the wait is hard.

Today we are settling in to a wait that took 25 years. Waiting weeks is hard, months can be excruciating, some of you have waited for years for prayers to be answered - maybe it was like Sarah and Abraham, praying for a child, or prayers for a family member who has stepped away or become estranged, praying for guidance for a job or deliverance from an addiction or situation - whatever it has been, the wait in the midst of unanswered hope is hard. Our scripture for today picks up in chapter 21, we know about Abram and Sarai, about how they were told that there would be generations stemming from them, that their descendants would be as numerous as the stars, yet at that time they had no children of their own. So here we are 25 years later, at age 90 and 100, and we start our scripture here.

Genesis 21:1–7 NIV

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

The Word of God for the people of God - thanks be to God!

We read here that Abraham and Sarah have a child now, they named him Isaac as they were told to do in Genesis 17:19, and Isaac in Hebrew is actually a similar word to laughter. Sarah exclaims that those who will hear this good news will laugh with her - not at her and not because of her, but with her - laughing in joy and happiness now. There is a celebration happening - the child that was to be born is here, they follow God’s commands and circumcise him on the 8th day - they followed God’s commands.

We know that in the chapters leading up to the birth of Isaac, that Abraham and Sarah were still faithful to God. They still were obedient and trusting. So in looking at ourselves, do we trust God even when it seems unlikely? That’s a hard one. If we have heard God speak to us - by scripture, by dreams, by the Holy Spirit, by others, do we trust God and what we heard? When listening to God, we know that when God instructs us that we are to obey. But how do we know if we are hearing God correctly? I’ve heard it explained that when you know someone closely - like a parent or a spouse - that you can recognize their voice - the first step in hearing God is to know God. To be in the Word, to pray. Also when you hear God, it will line up with scripture. It’s not about feelings or our judgement, but when God calls us to something - it will be in line with scripture. Another step in knowing if God is speaking to you is to see if it is consistent with God’s character - again you must know God to know if what God is calling you to do is consistent with God’s character. Is what you are hearing confirmed through others, or through the message at church, or through songs perfectly playing on the radio when you need? This isn’t AI stuff that pops up on your social media feed - we laughingly talk about how the phones and bots are always listening - well honestly friends, God is always listening and will use God winks - not coincidences to make sure you are hearing Him.

So after you realize that you are hearing from God - and it happens way more than you think if you keep your ears open to hear Him, then you are to trust God. To trust that God will fulfill all He says He will. He can do what He says He can do. That's it. If God is telling you that He’s got something, or to wait, or to turn it over to Him then do it! He’s got it! God is faithful. He will do what He says He can do. This passage we read today shows us that God is faithful. God's promises were revealed to Abraham and Sarah and they were fulfilled. Sometimes we have to wait in life and we don't understand, but God calls us to trust Him and to know His promises.

In looking at the first five verses of the chapter, we can see some very important truths.

 verse 1 - The Lord was gracious … as he had said, and the Lord did … what he had promised.

 Sarah became pregnant … at the very time God had promised him.

 Abraham circumcised him … as God commanded him.

 The constant repetition is striking: God has spoken … and spoken … and spoken … and spoken. And now he has fulfilled his word. And our response to God’s faithfulness is to obey.

So as you know this week was VBS. God has been so faithful to us. This week is such a good week. We are so used up by God and oozing out so much Jesus that we require naps each day! When the Holy Spirit uses you, you are used. And you are tired afterward - amen?! This week children learned about Jesus. They prayed with others, they found a place where they could celebrate Jesus and who He is to us. They were with other believers and leaders that taught them to pray, to work on their own relationship with God and showed them how God works in their life. God provided the leaders to serve in the areas - months ahead of times. God provided the substitutes that would be needed for those who had something happen and they could no longer serve. God provided the right amount of volunteers daily so that each group had great leaders and could rotate safely. God provided people with a creative eye and heart for serving to transform this church into a place for heroes! Yall - God did this. We were short on volunteers, but God provided - all we had to do was pray. We knew God would provide, we trusted God, we obeyed, and He did what He said He could do.

The question is - do we truly trust in God? Do we seek Him? Do we know Him? Are we able to point out to others about God's faithfulness even when we have a long wait? Church, He is trustworthy. The Lord did as he had promised. For Abraham and Sarah it was 25 years in the waiting time, but yet He did what He said He would do. Something important to know here is that God’s acts are not dependent upon anything we say or do. We don’t earn anything by how good we are or how well we serve. We can’t get brownie points and then God’s faithfulness will come to us - no it is not by anything we do. It can’t be. We can never do anything to earn God’s grace or favor. God loves us all as His children, He gave his son to die for our sins - it is not about what we can or cannot do - it’s all about what Jesus did and how that changed our lives forever. Our lives are transformed when we accept Jesus as our Savior and choose to live for Him. We get to know Him, His character, how He speaks, and as we do, we hear God more and more clearly - and the blessings and beauty from this knowledge are more than we can imagine. Our God is so good. So faithful, so merciful, so full of grace - We need to know this in our own lives.

Abraham and Sarah trusted God. They were obedient. They were faithful as God is faithful. We need to trust God as well in our lives. Get to know Him. Read your bible. Know who Jesus is and the character of Jesus. Allow the Holy Spirit to wash over you and speak to you - this is the way of life for us, for our families, for our community - to know God and to know God’s faithfulness.

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior or need to recommit your life to Christ - now is the time. There are no coincidences - God is speaking to you, to all of us. God calls us into relationship with Him. And we are to obey, to answer, to trust, to know....Amen.