Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, “Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?”
(Genesis 17:17 MSG)
I’m reading the book of Genesis again and find it interesting that Abraham, ‘the father of faith,’ laughed at God’s promise to give him a son in his old age. He wasn’t the only one. After the Lord Himself came down to visit Abraham and confirm His promise to give him an heir, his wife, Sarah, too had a good laugh out loud about it because the Lord heard it. “Abraham and Sarah were old by this time, very old. Sarah was far past the age for having babies. Sarah laughed within herself, “An old woman like me? Get pregnant? With this old man of a husband?” (Genesis 18:11-12). God was well aware of the fact that Abraham and Sarah were both old and past the age to have children (I’m not sure why they had to keep reminding Him). But this is the same God who tells us, “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work…For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Is it any wonder then that the Lord would ask Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh saying, ‘Me? Have a baby? An old woman like me?’ Is anything too hard for God? I’ll be back about this time next year and Sarah will have a baby” (Genesis 18:15).
Imagine for a second that your boss calls you to his/her office and tells you that you have been promoted. And imagine that instead of feeling honoured and happy, you begin to laugh. How do you think he/she would feel? He/she would definitely ask, “What’s so funny?” I don’t think it would change the fact that you’ve been promoted, but you would feel embarrassed for having laughed like Abraham and Sarah. Learn to take God at His Word (believe it) instead of laughing to yourself and thinking it’s some kind of a joke. I’m thankful that Abraham and Sarah’s disbelief did not keep God from fulfilling His promise to them and the future generations after them. I heard someone express their gratitude for the fact that the Christian song, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” is about God’s faithfulness and not my faithfulness. “If we are not faithful, he will still be faithful. Christ cannot deny who he is” (2 Timothy 2:13).
If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans. -Woody Allen
Rising with the Son 