Hebrews 11:11 “By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”
As God gives Abraham a promise in Genesis 18 that, in his old age, he will have a son, another person will have to have faith. That person is Abraham’s wife, SARAH. Now, you might recall her initial reaction was LAUGHTER. She did not just doubt the idea of her having a child, she LAUGHED AT IT!! (You might want to read Genesis 18:10 – 14)
I feel a little bad for Sarah. She got caught laughing on the inside about what God was promising and then got caught lying about laughing. And now God has told on her by putting this embarrassing moment in the Bible.
Good thing the story does continue, because at some point later, Sarah is going to move from doubt and disbelief to belief. At some point, Genesis 18:14 is going to grip her heart, and she will believe what God has said. While we don’t have the full story laid out for us, we do have the cliff notes from Hebrews 11:11.
After laughing at God’s promise and then being rebuked for laughing and being confronted for lying, SARAH will make a judgment call on God. Hebrews 11:11 says she JUDGED Him. Other versions said SHE CONSIDERED Him. The idea of the word is to weigh carefully or to think through thoroughly.
For Sarah, it was not WHAT was said that changed her mind but WHO said it.
Hearing that you will be having a child when both you and your husband are too old is hard to believe. And it would probably have continued to be hard to believe if a family member, a friend, or even a stranger had said it. What moved Sarah from doubting to believing was WHO said it. She evaluated God, and she judged Him FAITHFUL!
There comes a moment, SARAH said GOD SAID IT and I BELIEVE HIM because when God says He is going to do something HE DOES IT! HE IS FAITHFUL!
Sarah said it was His character that convinced her to trust Him!
For you who are challenged to take a step of faith with something that seems absolutely undoable, you are going to have to grow in your knowledge of WHO is guiding you to make the decision. My go-to verse in moments like this has been Psalm 9:10 says, “And those who know Your name put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.”
While the WHAT that God calls you to do may scare you and bring huge doubts, you must FOCUS on the WHO that is speaking, not the WHAT.
Continue Strong, considering Him FAITHFUL
And remember to DATE THE WORD