Friday, March 5, 2010

Short Thoughts for Today

The scripture for today's short thoughts will be Hebrews 11: 11-12, where the author writes, "By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendents AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE."

Sarah is certainly not the only woman mentioned in the Bible who experienced difficulty with conceiving a child. A "barren womb" has been the burden of many women throughout history and continues to be a reality that is faced by women today. As it often is, we do not know why, but Sarah lacked the ability to conceive. I imagine that this had troubled her heart throughout her "childbearing" years. But in addition to having lacked the ability to conceive during childbearing years, we find that she was now "beyond the proper time of life". Adding further to her difficult situation, Abraham was now old and described as one who was "as good as dead".

But we must praise God that here is no "proper time of life" for faith. We are not given an age or time limit for faithfulness. It is proper always to believe God! As I have previously emphasized, Sarah's faith in God was based on His faithfulness to His promises. Only God can turn barrenness into "many descendents", numbered like the stars of heaven or the sand of the seashores. Oh, may we never forget that His word is His oath. As the psalmist wrote, He is a God of "exceeding faithfulness".

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