They came from a family of idol worshippers (Joshua 24:2). But more than that, both Sarah and Abraham were people with normal human frailties – fear, dishonesty, doubt, complaisance – which constantly places God’s plan in jeopardy. At times their faith is stretched to the limit. They attempt to bring about God’s promise through their own plans – adopting an heir or through surrogacy. But God says “No! This is not my plan. In my time, Sarah will have a baby and through that baby she will be the mother of the nation through whom the whole world will be blessed.” God works through this couple, challenging and changing them, despite their flaws and their moments of doubt.

One obstacle in particular seems insurmountable. Sarah, we are told, was old (way past menopause) and barren. This was a couple who had struggled with infertility for years and years – for decades – who had hoped until that hope had grown old, shrivelled up and died. Why would God choose them? Yet God promises that they would not just have a child but descendants as numerous as the grains of sands of the wide, barren Sahara desert – of all the deserts and beaches of the world.

It is because God called Abraham and Sarah, that God calls us. He wants us to be part of His plans. We may think we are not qualified but God isn’t interested in finding qualified people. We know we are flawed but it is God who renews and transforms us. He takes unqualified flawed people – people with impediments, with past mistakes and character faults – and qualifies them for His work of blessing the world.

Unexpected Delays

And that’s the end of the story, right? God calls Abraham and Sarah, promises them a child and, on arrival in the new land, Sarah has a baby and God’s promises are fulfilled. After all, if God has promised to bless us and minster through us – if He has a plan and is in charge of executing it – then there should be no impediments to the immediate fulfilment of his plan – right?

Wrong! Throughout Abraham and Sarah’s story there is ongoing tension and suspense. They remain aliens in the land God has promised them. There are ongoing threats to their safety and prosperity. Almost immediately there is a drought and they find themselves in Egypt fielding off the Pharaoh’s unwelcome attentions. There is conflict with the inhabitants of the land and conflict within the family.

But the biggest disappointment is that year after year goes by and there is still no child. The fulfilment of the promises – especially that of a son – don’t seem humanly possible, so both Abraham and Sarah start trying alternative plans, to make God’s promise work. Each time, they bring about more problems than they solve.

In fact, they are often the biggest impediment to God’s plan.

Why does God delay? We live in a society that values instant results. We don’t like waiting. We speed through life in an effort to get to our destinations as fast as possible, cutting corners, taking unnecessary risks – and all the time taking little notice of the country we travel through.

Perhaps God builds in delays because he as interested in how we make the journey and the type of people we are becoming as much as in arriving at our destination. We, like Sarah and Abraham, have to come to the end of our own resources and to learn to trust God completely.

And then, God brings about the impossible. God says – this time next year you will be holding a baby in your arms. And what causes Sarah to laugh because it seems beyond credibility – becomes the source of joyous laughter, as Isaac at last is born.

Unlimited Potential

Both Abraham and Sarah see God do the miraculous – they are given a son when all hope has been lost. Yet at the end of their life, God’s grand promises are only partially fulfilled – they are still aliens in the land of promise, they own a burial plot and are still a small family. By the end of Abraham and Sarah’s life so few of God’s promises had been made concrete.

Yet as the story of God’s people continues to unfold throughout the Old and New Testaments, God brings about His promises in ever widening circles. Isaac’s, son Jacob becomes Israel, Jacob’s descendants become God’s promised people who centuries later take possession of the promised land and through this small nation millennia later, Jesus the Messiah is born.

It is in Jesus that the promises are fully fulfilled. It is through Jesus that all the families on the earth – every tribe, people, language and ethnic group can now become part of God’s family. Sarah and Abraham’s spiritual descendants now number in the billions – and we can now be part of God’s plans.