Hagar bore Ishmael, but Sarai remained barren. Another decade passed. Abram and Sarai grew older. Then one day God appeared to Abram to establish His covenant with him. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and changed Sarai’s to Sarah.
After changing Sarai’s name, God told Abraham that he would bless Sarah and that God would give Abraham a son by Sarah, then he would further bless her by making her a mother of nations and mother of kings.
Abraham laughed in his heart that he, a 100-year-old man, and Sarah, a 90-year-old woman, would have a child. He suggested that Ishmael fulfill God’s promise. But God insisted that Sarah would bear a son, and they would call him Isaac. It would be with Isaac that His covenant would be established.
Later, God came to Abraham again, and as He ate the feast prepared by Abraham, God repeated that Sarah would have a son. Sarah, who was standing behind the tent door and listening to the conversation, laughed to herself that God would wait until she was aged to finally provide her the joy of a child.
Though she didn’t laugh out loud, God heard her inward laughter. He asked Abraham why Sarah laughed. Then He reminded them that nothing was too hard for Him to accomplish. He promised them that by the next year, they would have the promised son.
Both Abraham and Sarah laughed when God told them the time had finally come for them to have the promised son. Just thinking of the ludicrousness of two old people having a baby brought joy to their hearts. Though they had long ago given up hope, God had not forgotten them.
Nothing is too hard for our Lord. He always fulfills His promises no matter how impossible they may appear.
Sarah in Scripture: Genesis 17:15-21, 18:10-15
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