AND SO WE TARRIED…

Wait - To tarry, to await, to long for

A. THE AMBASSADORS OF OUR FAITH

The story of Abraham and Sarah is by no means a new one. Abraham and his wife Sarah are often referred to as the ambassadors of our faith. This was, however not always the case.

Especially not for Sarah.

At one point in the Bible, Sarah believes the promise God makes to her husband when He calls him out of his father’s house to an unknown land. She believes that The Lord will establish them in the promised land. She does not have a moment of doubt when they dwell in temporary shelters. In this aspect, she has sufficient faith in The Lord as faithful to deliver on His Promise.

At another point though, The same God promises her that she will have a child by the next year. Sarah laughs. By laughing, she mocks herself and the deadness of her womb, and does not believe she can have a child. She does not have faith in The One who makes this promise.

Much later, in the book of Hebrews, the author commends Sarah as a woman of strong faith who believed and was able to bear children past her child-bearing age.

Somewhere between the time of her scornful laughter and the delivery of Isaac, Sarah transforms from a woman with no faith - to a woman embodying so much faith until her body conceives a child.

B. TIME AS A GIFT

It’s astounding the difference time can make in the heart and spirit of a man.

Time is not a social construct, but a gift bestowed unto us by The Creator. In as much as God exists outside time, He controls the times and seasons. Often when God makes a promise to a man, He has in His Mercy blessed them with the gift of time in preparation for its fulfillment.

For example.

When the Lord appears to Sarah and her husband, He lets them know that they will have a child by the next year.

This means many things, but it also means - “Sarah, prepare yourself to be a mother, your life is about to change - put your affairs in order.”

In fact, He tells her when she laughs:

“Is anything too difficult or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.” [Matt 19:26]”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭18‬:‭14‬ ‭AMP‬‬

This means that there was an appointed time when Sarah would become a mother, and while that time was well on its way, it had not come yet. There was therefore a season of waiting for the appointed time.

During this time, I believe that Sarah partnered with God to align her faith until she agreed with His Promise.

Science would disagree with this theory, because if Sarah cannot have a child at the age of 50, the possibility of having said child at 90 is literally non-existent. (Which is perhaps another reason why she laughed).

Thankfully, Sarah took advantage of the time given to her until the appointed season to grow in her knowledge of The Lord. She strengthened her mental resolve and her spirit until she reached a point of revelation - believing that her ability to have a child resided NOT in the age and health of her womb, but in the faithfulness of The One who had promised that she would be a mother.

In other words, she agreed with God until her womb aligned with His Word. The Bible says that those whose strength is in the Lord ‘go from strength to strength until each one of them appears before God in Zion.’ (Psalm 84:7) AMP

As Sarah considered the strength of The Lord and not that of her womb, she attained higher levels of supernatural strength until her womb was equally strengthened enough to receive a child despite her age.

For NO Word from God will ever fail. Luke 1:37 NIV.

C. THE LORD HAS MADE ME LAUGH

God pays attention to the details we might ordinarily consider the smallest or even forget about.

When Sarah has a son, she names him Isaac, which means to laugh. She explains that ‘God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.’ Genesis 21:6 NLT

This laughter is different from the first time she heard The Promise. Her laughter is not scorning of the strength of her body anymore. She rejoices because The One she believed fulfilled His promise. Her laughter is filled with joy. The Lord transformed the meaning behind her laughter as well. (🥹)

Sarah’s laughter mirrors that of Elizabeth when she conceives in her old age too. Their stories changed.

“And listen, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.” Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭36‬ ‭AMP‬‬

D. THE WAITING SEASON

To put it plainly, when God makes a promise, He often gives us the gift of time (waiting) to perfect our faith and prepare for the manifestation of The Promise.

Sarah and Abraham waited. Hannah waited. The Israelites waited. Simon waited. Joseph waited. Moses waited. David waited. All these were perfected in their faith during the waiting season. The passage of time is not meant to dull the strength of The Promise, but to strengthen our resolve in God as faithful enough to fulfil it.

It is not in the nature of God to have us wait  or endure anything that is not ultimately meant for our good. God is love, and everything He does proceeds from a place of pure, unadulterated love.

This tells me that waiting is not such a terrible thing when that season has been ordained by Him.

The Word says without faith, it is impossible to please God. We please God when we walk with Him; but “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” Amos 3:3.

Ultimately, time is given to align our minds and spirit with His Word until we can fully walk in agreement with Him.

When we agree by the increase of our faith, God partners with us to ensure His Word does not fall to the ground. Time too, aligns with the Perfect Will of its Creator to manifest The Promise.

Amen.

E. THE STORY ROOM

Finally, indulge me for a moment.

I imagine that if there is a story room in Heaven, Abraham and Sarah’s story is one of the commonest ones.

They testify of how they waited on the Lord. They testify that no one waits on The Lord in vain. That He exchanged their feeble strength for His Supernatural Strength when they trusted Him.

They tell of how it may have initially been difficult to believe, but He carried them on eagle’s wings - far above the deadness of their womb.

They tell of how they both laughed the first time they heard The Promise of a child.

I imagine how unbelievable that story sounds. This story transitions somewhere along the lines of;

“…and so we tarried. We tarried in The Presence of our Lord until He transformed our scornful laughter to celebration. When we believed Him, rivers of living water flowed out of our bellies - bringing every dead thing to life.”