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Genesis 21:1–7
Isaac’s birth story is one of hope and dreams fulfilled. Isaac is a true miracle baby, born when his elderly parents were supposedly biologically incapable of having a family. After decades of marriage, when the promise was made to Abraham at age 100 that his wife Sarah at age 90 would become pregnant, Abraham laughed skeptically. Around the same time, when Sarah was given the news by a stranger this would happen, she laughed incredulously. She would later joyfully confess that God had prepared laughter for her family and friends. To commemorate these events and God’s faithfulness, Abraham and Sarah named their son Isaac, meaning “he laughs.”
I can relate to Sarah. After over a decade of the burden of struggling to conceive and a failed adoption, there were times I wondered if our prayers to become parents might ever be fulfilled. I can remember years of leaving multiple baby showers of my peers in tears, feeling the ache of grief in my heart. After 13 years of marriage, we were blessed with our own miracle, and our son was born. Like Sarah, I could relate to the laugh-out-loud joy she must have experienced as my prayers were answered when least expected. God’s timing is perfect, and sometimes pretty funny, too.
God’s promises are worthy of our deepest hopes. I pray that we all remember that God’s desire is not that we suffer pain, but that we learn to trust in His plans to fulfill His loving purposes for our lives in His perfect timing.
Prayer:
Lord, please forgive us for the times we fail to trust in Your plans for our lives. Give us the grace to accept the sufferings of this present time with confidence, that our deepest hopes may be fulfilled in You.
Jeannelle A. Benek
(Read the next devotion here.)
Photo by Liv Bruce
