Genesis 18:12 “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

Genesis 18:13 “And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?”

In Genesis 18, God pays Abraham and his wife Sarah a visit before sending a couple angels down to Sodom to rescue Lot before the wicked cities are destroyed with fire and brimstone.

During this visit, as God communes with Abraham, God reiterates a longtime promise that he’s made to Abraham before… that he’s going to have a son, whom all God’s blessings are contingent upon, and that his son will come through Sarah his wife.

… Sarah is listening to this conversation, and she doesn’t show it, but inside she can’t believe it.

Through her? Through me? To her it’s impossible. She’s an older woman of at least 90 years of age, and she’s past child bearing years, and the years of barrenness have really worn her resilience and faith and belief down.

Maybe the years have worn you down too! Maybe the “reality” of life has taught you not to trust God’s promises. They may sound good, but they’re not … for … me. Impossibility is part of serving God… and while impossibility causes us all to stagger at God’s promises, our impossibility truly is nothing to the Lord.

Yes, Biblical Christianity is impossible for every child of God… when it’s based on ourselves… but it’s meant to be based on our Lord!

You can’t really blame Sarah for laughing, I would have done the same, and still do in my own life often. And that’s as a believer.

In my life, I’ve seen and met and talked to many people who do not hide their laughter at God and God’s word.

I’ve seen smirks of disbelief and the little sarcastic laugh when Jesus Christ and his word is mentioned. I’ve seen how dismissive people are of God’s promises, and these people never will experience the joy of this promise that the angel made to Mary one day “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

The Bible truly is a divine book, and Sarah’s laughter inside at the impossibility of God’s promise is comforting to know for many reasons. It shows how good our God is, and how much we all struggle.

And it’s not all the Bible has to say about what was going on inside Sarah’s mind and heart!

Because although she laughed, there was also faith inside there also, there was a ray of hope that God’s promise inspired in her. Will God’s word inspire you?

Hebrews 11:11 “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

Just because you cannot “conceive” of something, doesn’t mean God can’t do it. Sarah had a big breakthrough when she just flat trusted God despite impossibility.

And God’s word still is just as powerful as it was back then, and as she physically conceived in a barren womb… the gospel of Christ has power to create something new in you also…new life. Your salvation!

Maybe you think you’re past it. Too many miles on the clock. SO many years and decades of unbelief and the rut of reality!

But is it really too late for you? Sarah was “past it”, she was past age when this miracle happened in her life… maybe you nearly are past it already, but God is giving you another chance to be saved.

God turned Sarah’s laughter of impossibility into laughter of joy, and her son that she had “Isaac” his name means “laughter”. Little Isaac was always a reminder to Sarah that the grace and power of God was greater than her weakness and failure.

Could you be a Sarah? Maybe you’re someone who just scoffs and mocks God’s word, all you do is laugh it off… and that’s fine… you can stay there until the end if you are determined to do so.

… but some do believe, and some do experience the forgiveness of sin, joy of salvation, abundant life now, a home in heaven, eternal life in the world to come, and a future and possibility far beyond their mind.

As Christians, we all struggle with unbelief. But like Sarah, just trusting in God’s word can produce conception of possibility and a performance of God’s promises. If Jesus himself was a root that sprang out of a dry ground, then he definitely can plant a rainforest in the desert of your life and heart.

God wants to be taken at his word, he wants to be believed in, he’s just looking for someone who will do so. God can turn “How can these things be?” into an Isaac in your life. Even if you are “past it”… Jesus still can be your everlasting miracle today.

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