As He Said

“And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken…at the set time at which God had spoken to him.” Ge 21:1-2

As I read this section of Scripture regarding Sarah’s promise of a child, my mind was drawn back to 31 years ago. I had been blessed enough to get pregnant both times fairly quickly with my first two children. When we decided to have a third child, I found myself frustrated, confused and impatient as months passed before me with no positive sign on the pregnancy test. I couldn’t understand how twice before it was so effortless, only to be unsuccessful this time around. Thankfully at month 6, I received the ‘plus’ on the test and was elated to be pregnant again. I can remember each month feeling like a year instead of just 30 days. I can’t even imagine Sarah as she waited close to 60 years for her baby. God had promised her that she would conceive and have a child. But time marched on and so did her patience. She took matters into her own hands and created deep adversity from her decision to talk her husband into impregnating her servant. What a mess she created but that didn’t stop God from completing what He had promised her…and neither can we!

‘…at the set time.’ Words comforting at best and frustrating at worse. We want what we want and when we want it! Only God sees the aerial view of the desires of our hearts and how everything must fit together and align with His timing. He understands our tendency to doubt…to grow impatient…to try to manipulate things at our set time. No matter what we do God’s plan will prevail and our rush to force things will sometimes delay the fulfillment of our desire. ‘God’s plan is a good plan, worthy of our wait. His plan is good and so is He…When we wait well, and our wait ends, we will discover that the object of our wait pales in comparison to the Person of our faith…The wait is a reward, because in the wait we get to know God in a way we wouldn’t know Him…Don’t rush the wait!’ Wait and See, Wendy Pope, p. 79.