God's Promise Fulfilled

Anticipation Becomes Reality

Genesis 21:1–5 (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.

The entire narrative of Abraham’s life up to this point has been centered on the hope of inheritance. What would all of Abraham’s life have been worth if there was no one to pass it on to?

Abraham believed that what he needed was an heir to pass things on to, but the Lord did not allow him to settle for such a temporary view of life. Instead, the Lord allowed him to wait that in his waiting, he might grasp that what is temporary is meaningful only when surrendered to the One who is eternal. In other words, what Abraham truly desired was not an heir to pass his inheritance on to but rather a relationship with the eternal God with which to share with his heir that the inheritance will move from being temporary treasures to eternal relationship.

Genesis 17:17–19 (NIV)

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

In God’s perfect timing, He accomplished all that He promised. Abraham’s concerns were put to rest as the Lord fulfilled the impossible. Abraham’s laughter of doubt is transformed into the laughter of joy as the promise of God is fully received.

Every fulfillment of the promises of God, both in part and in full, should move us to joyous faith as our hope becomes reality. Our future is certain, it has already been written. Our Lord will draw near to us. Every tear will be eternally dried. Our pain and suffering will be met with joy and comfort. We will see that which is impossible a reality because of our great God. Every promise fulfilled should move our faith to the joyous truth that our Lord will not fail.

Faith Fully Satisfied

Genesis 21:6–7 (NIV)

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.”

In the promises of the Lord, we find our fullness, the satisfaction for the deepest longings of the soul, the very essence of who we are. We were created for His delight, and it is His delight alone that fully satisfies.

Genesis 18:10–15 (NIV)

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

God transformed the laugher of doubt and resignation into the joyous laughter of promise fulfilled. God will not fall short. His perfect plan is redeeming all things. Every moment, every tear, every pain, every sorrow is being transformed through Him into the words, plot twists, hallelujahs of the gospel of Christ being told through our lives. The continuation of His story in us finds its fullness in His accomplished work.

Isaac which means he laughs is transformed from laughing because how could God accomplish this to the laughter of joy because has accomplished that which was impossible.