Genesis 21:6
“Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.’”
Sarah had waited a lifetime. Not a year. Not a decade. A lifetime. The promise came when she was old enough to know better. She couldn’t believe it. A son? From this worn-out body? She laughed.
But years before that laugh, there had been tears. Long, silent years of an empty cradle and an aching heart. Barrenness in the ancient world wasn’t just a medical condition. It was a wound you carried in public. Every festival. Every neighbor’s newborn. Every passing year.
Finally she did what desperate people do. She acted. She handed her servant Hagar to Abraham and said, “make it happen.” It was legal by the customs of her day. But it wasn’t God’s promise. It was a shortcut around God. And shortcuts rarely lead where we hope.
I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.
Prayer: Lord, when we grow tired of waiting and take matters into our own hands, redirect us gently.