WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength’ (Isaiah 30:15, NIV). Reflect for a few minutes on repentance, rest, quietness and trust. Late, but on time God has promised Sarah and Abraham a child, but they have had to wait so long that when the baby finally arrives it is laughably improbable that he has come from such aged parents. Sarah’s laughter of disbelief turns to laughter of joy and, as she predicted, the story continues to provoke a chuckle today (v 6). But while Isaac was born extremely late from his mother’s perspective, he came exactly when God had planned (v 2). Hard to wait Abraham and Sarah’s desire to see God bring about his promises had led to them finding their own solution, and as a result Abraham had a son by his servant Hagar. Ishmael was not the child to inherit the promise, and his father, with pain and regret, has to send him away. While it is hard to wait on God, and his timing can seem intolerably out of sync with our own, it is always wiser not to try to make things happen our way. Respond: We are all waiting, but we can do it impatiently, angrily and fretfully, or with faith and courage, holding on to the promises of God with tenacity and trust in his goodness. What are you waiting for at the moment? Are you waiting in a way that brings glory to God? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-04-17