Sarah Laughed: What Will You Do?

Author's note: This is another item I wrote in 2003 that was later published in The Encourager. Again, I post it in case someone can take encouragement from it...


We read in Genesis 18:10-12 how Sarah, Abraham’s wife, reacted when she heard that she was to become a mother in her advanced years. She was a woman past child-bearing age, had never had any children, and was in her nineties (Gen 17:17). She laughed. And well she might, for she described herself as already “worn out”, yet anyone who has ever cared for a baby knows that it’s exhausting work. After restless days and nights from the discomforts of late pregnancy, there’s the grueling labor of bringing the child into the world. Then there’s the frequent interruptions in one’s days and nights as the helpless little baby needs fed, changed, comforted and made comfortable, all while returning to one’s regular duties of daily living. In Sarah’s case, without the assistance of modern conveniences, I might add.
We laugh for many reasons, not just for joy. We also laugh when we’re shocked, confused, and even when we’re frightened but not sure if we should be. While Sarah surely felt joy at the thought of becoming a mother, she no doubt also felt incredulous (“You’ve GOT to be kidding!”) and possibly even a little frightened (“How am I going to handle having a baby at my age?!”)
But God had a plan, and Sarah’s age and physical condition had little to do with it. As the Lord Himself reminded Abraham in verse 14, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” God has plans for all of us, even if we’re chronically ill and “worn out.” Like Sarah, our physical condition has little to do with it. We may find ourselves being called to some mission that seems ridiculously beyond our capabilities or even one that causes us to fear for what health we have left; a mission that may have us laughing in disbelief, joy or fright, or perhaps even crying. The Bible gives us several promises to lean on if this happens. We have the promise of strength in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” We can take reassurance from the promise in Jeremiah 29:11, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” We can take confidence from 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Sarah submitted to the Lord’s plans, despite her age and weariness, and knew joy when His promise was fulfilled (Gen 21:6.) If we submit to God’s calling, despite our illness, we too can know joy when our obedience produces fruit. Sarah laughed. What will you do?

Father, I thank you that we needn't fear any task that you call us to do, that you will give us the strength and grace to complete it, and that you will not let us be harmed in any lasting way by our missions. Give us the wisdom to know the difference between great tasks that you're calling us to do and those that we're imposing on ourselves (or allowing others to impose on us), for the former we'll be able to do in Christ, while the latter may overtask our already weakened bodies to our detriment. Help us to find joy in being called in spite of our infirmities, so that we laugh in delight, rather than shocked disbelief. In Christ's name, Amen.