Gen 18:9-15
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Laughing and Lying
Laughing and Lying
Opening
Alright how is everyone doing
How was fall break
Did anyone go out of town for the break
well if you have your bible we will be in Gen 18 for most of tonight
as you turn there let’s take a moment and look at the context
so far in the story of Abraham we have seen him make some mistakes
we’ve seen God call him to move to Canaan
he half way listened to God
he went to Egypt instead of where God wanted him to go
but we see him consult God before choosing what land to take when he was with Lot
Last week we see Abraham and his three visitors
Now we are here this week at the end of that story
“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered. The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?” But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”
The Lords Promise
so first thing we see here is the men ask him where Sarah is
Abraham tells them
Then the Lord makes a promise
in a years time your wife Sarah will have a son
and this promise is something long awaited
if you have ever had to wait for something before you know that times seems to stand still
Many of y’all know I got married back in January this year
that morning getting ready for the wedding was so much fun
We played basketball
went to get donuts
to overcome the nerves we sang bruno mars and music like that
funny part about that some people walking into the wedding said they could hear the music on the outside
But let me tell you that morning was the longest morning of my life it felt like
time was standing still and that was only for a few hours
Abraham and Sarah have been waiting nearly 25 years for this promise
and now they finally have a time that it will happen imagine the relief they must have
But we don’t see a sigh of relief in Sarah instead we see her laughing
Laughing
Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”
We can gather that it isn’t a laughing for good its a mocking/Don’t believe laugh
we see Sarah laugh and then start thinking about all the roadblocks
all they physical problems
all the things that seem impossible
Old age is an issue to them
We see she has in issue of trust
and trusting in the Lord
now how can we apply this to us today is the questions
I don’t think many of us are 90 year old women being told we are going to have a kid next year
So it’s kinda hard to relate
But lets change it for a second to this
Problems in our everyday life
Sarah had an issue of trusting the Lord to take care of her
I feel like that could be us with our everyday problems
Anxiety- feeling like everything is out of control
it seems like such a big problem and I wanna be clear i’m not going to try and down play this
and I know what i’m about to say is easier said then done
but it seems like a huge problem at hand that will never be fixed
for example
Those of yall going off to collage
choosing your career path in high school
falling behind in a class
following the Lord whole heartedly
but have we taken a moment to go to the Lord about it
we have an issue trusting the Lord with things like anxiety, depression, feeling alone, Like everything is out of control, or no one is even in control
we want to take things into our own hands
or like Sarah here we don’t believe the Lord can provide when the Bible teaches us he can
Sarah’s laughing is showing us that she doesn’t trust the Lord and he can’t provide
Lying
But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.” Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.”
we see that the Lord is all knowing
this ties into the previous point
the Lord is all knowing
He is in control of everything
he knows all of our moves all of our decisions
he hears Sarah laugh and he asks about it
But Sarah lies
She denies it saying I didn’t laugh
We often doubt the Lord and his ability to take care of us
and by the time we realize it
we think i’ve handled it this far
i’m about to get it under control
in a way we are lying to ourselves and to the Lord
when we realize we need help we should go to the Lord
not keep on trying to hide what we’ve done
Like Sarah did here
But notice God’s response “no you did laugh”
we think we made a good excuse or covered it up good enough but God knows us
ANOTHER THING ABOUT GOD IS HE IS A PROMISE KEEPER
God is a promise keeper
I think this story tells us this
he made a promise to them 25 years ago and he is going to fulfill it
The Lord came 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 appointed time God had told him.
We see here God kept his promise
he promised Sarah and Abraham that they would have a son
25 years ago he made this promise
25 years in the making
and he kept it
If this is not a testament to us being able to trust the Lord idk what is
the Lord is a promise keeper and he will be there for us in our times of weakness our times of distress
this whole story is teaching us that we can trust God
Share the news
at the end of 21 verse 6
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 21
Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
She made sure that everyone knew what the Lord did for her
that is Issac means (Issac= He laughs)
any time they hear that name
anytime they go get him
anytime that name is said
people will know
if they don’t then that opens opportunity to tell them what God did for her
that is how we should be
when we turn from our own ways and looking at the issues like we are the ones in charge
we should share that with others
we should set a constant reminder
and that can open opportunity to tell others
Closing
so as we finish up tonight I wanna get one thing across
it is what we’ve been talking about this whole night
that we can trust the Lord
in times of need
in times of anxiety
in times of out of control
if you have placed your faith in Christ then there is no reason to try and tackle our issues by ourselves
Lean on the Lord
He is in control and we are not
Gospel
Share it
tell them who Jesus is
explain his life
works don’t save
words don’t save
Jesus saves
WILL YOU PRAY WITH ME
