God of The Impossible: Sarah's Pregnant

There are circumstances we face in life which in our minds they are impossible

We may believe we are past the age that God can use us

We may believe we are past the age of being able to have children

Everything in our culture is focused on youth and glorifying youth

Sadly many today live imprisoned because they think because of their age that whatever the Lord has promised or revealed to them cannot come to pass

Abraham and Sarah were two such people

As we will see God established a covenant with Abraham

Incredible promises were made

But as the years moved on it seemed that the promises of God would never come to pass

But we must remember that with the Lord nothing is impossible

We Begin

Genesis 18:7–15 (NASB95)

Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it.

He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.

Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.

Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

God Has a Plan

God always has a plan

God first revealed Himself to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.””

God’s covenant was established with Abraham

God told Abraham that He would make Him into a great nation

In Genesis 12:7 the Lord speaks of Abraham’s descendants Genesis 12:7 “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.”

In Genesis 13:16-17 the Lord speaks of the descendants of Abraham Genesis 13:16-17 ““I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.””

God would promise Abraham a son even though at that moment he was childless in Genesis 15:1-6

Genesis 15:1–6 (NASB95)

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,

I am a shield to you;

Your reward shall be very great.”

Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

There is Pain In The Waiting

Isaiah 40:30-31 “Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

Waiting upon the Lord is painful and hard

Isaiah 55:11 (NASB95)

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

God had given Abraham a promise

God spoke all things into existence

We often fail to understand the power of God’s word

When God establishes a covenant He will always be faithful to fulfill that covenant

Personal experience about waiting on Elizabeth

Prayed if it wasn’t God’s will to remove the desire

But as we waited the desire grew ever stronger driving me personally to the place of prayer

In the midst of her pain Sarah took matters into her own hands and had Abraham have sexual relations with her handmaid Hagar

Scripture has well documented how this decision created friction between Ishmael and Isaac and that friction still exist today

Isaac was the child of promise

God Will fulfill His Purpose

God is faithful to fulfill His every purpose

Even when we look at situations and we think in our human logic and mind that things are impossible, they are not

Genesis 17:1-5

Genesis 17:1–5 (NASB95)

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.

“I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”

Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.

“No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

When Abraham was called he was 75 years old

At this point Abraham is 99 years old

24 years has gone by

It would seem that God has forgotten His promise to Abraham

We can feel this way when we are waiting on the Lord

But God is always faithful

He is always faithful

Genesis 17:15–17 (NASB95)

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

“I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Even to Abraham it seemed like an impossible situation

Abraham even says to God “will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Abraham was focused on the wrong thing

When we experience doubt and discouragement we are focused on the wrong thing

This is Almighty God we are talking about

The creator of Heaven and Earth

The one who spoke everything out of nothing

Before anything was, He alone existed

When you and I pray we have an audience with Him

He listens to us and we partner with Him to bring forth His purposes and His plans.

Genesis 18:9–14 (NASB95)

Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.

Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Even when Sarah heard the promise of the Lord she laughed because to her human rational mind it seemed she was beyond child bearing age

But when the word of the Lord goes forth it will not return void

When faith is combined with the word of God the power of God is unleashed and poured out

Genesis 21:1–3 (NASB95)

Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised.

So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.

Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

The Lord was faithful to fulfill His purpose