Sarah Laughed ...

Hey Friends,

I hope this month has been treating you well. A little thing I found out is that we just passed the month of Aviv/Nisan in the Jewish calendar which would have been March-April in the Gregorian calendar. This month is referred to as "Month of Happiness" as it is typically 30 days of spring. Most of my reading about this was done on Wikipedia so please do correct me if I am wrong. However, there is a mention of this month in Exodus 13:4. All to say, I hope your month and a bit was a happy one. :)

The title of this posting today is "Sarah Laughed". Have you ever wondered how Sarah must have felt when she heard the Lord, in Genesis 18, say that she would have a baby next year. It is easy to be quick to judge her when you read that statement. How come she didn't believe the lord? Oh Sarah of little faith...

But walk in her shoes for a second. In Genesis 18:11-12 it says she laughed to herself because both her and her husband were very old. Not to mention she was decades past her "natural child bearing age".

In that laughter I read a heart that has grown weary of waiting, a heart that has accepted defeat, but also a hope that is almost gone.  But that hope was still there because of unfailing nature of God. I also see a woman who has lived through years and years of seeing others get their promises and moving forward in life while she feels like she is no where near where she envisioned she would be. I bet she also had to learn how to celebrate with others when they receive what she is waiting on without allowing bitterness to sip into her heart. I am sure there would have been people that mocked her, made her the talk of the town. See it is not as easy as assuming she had no faith in the lord.

A little while ago an uncle of mine was prophesying over my life and I laughed under my breath. He noticed I wasn't enthusiastically receiving it by declaring "AMEN!" and repeated himself and said "I am prophesying this over your life!" I had to snap out of it and say "thank you, amen I receive it" with the little bit of energy I had left in me that day. But in that moment I believe I saw a glimpse of what I think Sarah must have gone through for ages.

You see when you hold on to the promises of God there are bound to be waves that try to wash it away. Storms that make you lose focus. Trials that make you forget! But there is hope! We serve a faithful, gracious, loving, ever-present, and constant God that is not bound by time!

You see we fail when we equate the way we count our days, our calendars with God's. I know you have probably heard it a billion times, but its true, His timing is perfect! For the most part when He says its the right time is when you and I are like nooo this is not going to happen or we think the perfect time had long passed!

Genesis 21:1 is the proof for what I just said! "Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised."

My prayer for us is that we would not grow weary of waiting on His perfect timing. That we would fight for our joy, our peace, our hope, while we wait. It easier said than done, but as one of my awesome friends/one of the pastors at my church so eloquently put it "Take it moment by moment!". 

God has also promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us and that He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us walk through these seasons victorously. Be encouraged, He is not done with you yet! Also, Listen to this song, Do it Again by Elevation Worship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOBIPb-6PTc

Stay Blessed<3