GENESIS 21:1 – The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.

THEME OF THE DAY. HE IS TRUSTWORTY. Today’s scripture is brief but packed with an encouraging truth; God can be trusted. Oh, we know that is true, but is it not also true we find it difficult to trust Him when life seems to be overwhelming us? I find it easy to proclaim steadfast faith in the God of all grace when my life is relatively calm. There are those seasons, rare they are, that life is manageable. We have inconveniences, but we handle them without much problem. Maybe even in the strength of ourselves. And in those times, it doesn’t require much “gut-wrenching” and “hanging on by a thread” faith in the Lord. But those times won’t last if we are real Christians. God will test our faith. God will try us to see where our trust and strength really are rooted. Remember, an untried faith is an unreliable faith; an untested faith is a false faith. God will put His children, all His children, in various circumstances and settings to refine our faith and reveal to us the level of trust we truly have in Him and His promises. A fine example of that is in today’s scripture.

Sarah had been promised a son. Humanly speaking, this was impossible. She was way past the child-bearing days. Both she and her husband Abraham struggled with unbelief of God’s promise. In fact, Sarah inwardly laughed at the messenger from God who said she would give birth. This laugh was the height of her unbelief and a direct act of blasphemy on the character of God who cannot lie (Genesis 17:15-18:15). But before we get too critical of Abraham and Sarah, let’s pause and remember we are no different. Have we not been faced with trying times and circumstances in life when the promises of God seem too unrealistic and we questioned both the promise and the Promiser? Yet, for them, and us, God remains true to His promises. What a great and merciful God who despite our unfaithfulness, He remains faithful. And when it comes to His promises, they are the whole of the Christian life. We are people of promises. We rely upon God’s faithful promises from start to finish in the Christian life.

First, we are Christians because of God’s promises. The Apostle Peter writes, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). No one has ever seen Jesus Christ or heard an audible voice from heaven saying, “You are my child”. We are born again by faith in the promise of God who said of His Son, “To as many as received Him, believed on Him, to them He gave the right and power to become children of God” (John 1:12). But God doesn’t give us new life in His Son by a promise then leave us to live out the Christian life on our own.

As with new birth by promise, we live the Christian life pursuing Christ-likeness by promises too. The Apostle Paul directs us to this truth . . . “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). These promises are found in 1 Corinthians 6:16-18. They are promises of an intimate relationship with God as our Father. It is because of these promises that we obey His Word or live out the Christian life; the promises are the privilege and experience to know, love, and enjoy God.

So, if God is trustworthy and He is; if His promises of new birth and living the Christian life are truth and reliable, don’t we think He can also be trusted in all the challenges in this temporal life? If we can trust Him for spiritual things and eternity, we can also trust Him for the material and passing.

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You that You and Your promises are sure and worthy of my trust.”

QUOTE: “We may not understand God’s ways, but we can trust His ways for they are rooted in His promises”