Genesis 18:1-15 & 21:1-7

Nearly twenty-five years of waiting since God first promised Abraham and Sarah a son–aging and likely aching bodies–it’s no wonder Sarah had given up on the promise.  When these heavenly visitors reaffirm the promise, Sarah expresses her unbelief with a quiet yet cynical laugh.  And it’s a cynicism we understand; it can be hard to keep holding out hope when we’ve been waiting for a sign of God’s goodness far longer than what seems reasonable.  But Sarah would laugh again, this time the joyful mirth of a mother whose expectations had been turned upside down by the power and goodness of God.  The life of faith is learning to surrender to a God who does all things well, and whose unending promise is that he will replace beauty with ashes and mourning with gladness.