WAITING: The Story of Abraham & Sarah

Genesis 15-18

Song: Hymn of the Ages by Maverick City

As we enter into the season of Advent and looking at the theme of waiting on Emmanuel, we will look at many stories throughout scripture that point to this idea. The first story that we get to engage with is the story of Abraham and Sarah.

 First, we need to dive into what was the reality for Abraham and Sarah. There is a dichotomy we see in the promise of offspring from God to Abraham and the reality of barrenness that was the story for Abraham and Sarah throughout their marriage. You see for men back in this time, having an heir, and mainly a male heir, was everything. The male heirs were the ones to continue on the family line, to keep the family trade going, and to inherit all that the previous generation had created. For women back in this time, childbirth was their purpose . “Be fruitful and multiply...” was a primary duty for the people of God. Sarah’s infertility would have been crushing for her. This was the reality for both of them, but God still comes in and says, “‘Look toward Heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” (15:5). Now if I was in this situation, I would be freaking out. The God of the Universe has promised me a lineage that will be as many as the stars, but my wife and I cannot get an heir no matter how much we try and hope. 

But I think we see a different, and better reaction from Abraham and Sarah.

Here is a timeless truth that we can all cling to in the midst of promises and not seeing the fulfillment of them in our lives:

We can walk in boldness and security no matter what because we know God will always fulfill His promises to us.

Abraham and Sarah only got to see the fulfillment of one of the promises that God had spoken to them. In the midst of barrenness after God has promised an immeasurable amount of children, you could understand how this would cause some confusion. But then He fulfills part of His words in giving them Isaac. But what about the words God said about Abraham’s offspring numbering that of the stars? What would we do in the midst of that promise? We get to see the fulfillment of that promise and how God has used His promises to Abraham to make His glory known throughout the world. 

Heb. 11:8-19 describes the faithfulness of Abraham to keep pushing forward in trusting that God’s word will always be fulfilled. His promises are fulfilled because they ultimately lead to His glory, and if that is true then no matter the circumstances tied to His promises to us we can trust and walk in boldness to Him who is worthy of all our praise. Seeing God’s faithfulness firsthand is an amazing privilege, but what happens when we may not see the fulfillment of certain things in our lives. But something that we can see and know is true is that God is worthy of all our praise and worship and pursuing Him and His words for us will produce joy in whatever circumstance comes our way.

We not only get to see the fulfillment of Abraham’s lineage when Jesus was born, but we also get to see that we, as believers, are the fulfillment of that promise today from so many years ago. In Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we have been brought into Abraham’s lineage as spiritual sons and daughters in worshiping the God whose words are for our good because they are for His glory. In this advent season of being In The Waiting, I want to challenge us to take all the things that we can’t yet see God’s fulfillment in and trust that His words to us will not come back null or void. Would we be people that trust that He is for our good because He is about His glory.