Laughing in
Faith or Unbelief?
Is
anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you,
about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” Genesis 18:14 (NIV)
Once upon a time, there was a man who was
sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the
Saviour appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed
him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to
push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For
many years he toiled pushing with all his might.
Seeing that the man was showing signs of
discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the
man's mind such as: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long
time, and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to
move it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible
and that he was a failure.
The man decided all was enough and he
prayed to Lord and said, "I have laboured long and hard in your service,
putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this
time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why
am I failing?" To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My child,
when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your
task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done.
Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was
to push.
I am sure we all can identify with Sarah.
She laughed when God did not. She managed to conceal her laughter, but that
doesn’t work with the Lord, who knows the very thoughts and intentions of our hearts.
Was the laughter a problem? No, the
problem was that Sarah’s laughter reflected her unbelief in the promise of God.
Unbelief is a more serious sin than most of us realize. To doubt God’s promise
is equal to calling God a liar. It is to say that I know better than the
eternal Creator. It is to demote God from His place of sovereign power and to
promote myself over Him. God doesn’t take kindly to unbelief.
All of us struggle, at different levels,
with the problem of unbelief. Perhaps, like Abraham and Sarah, we’ve prayed for
something for years, but God has not answered. Life is passing us by while we
wait. We struggle with doubt as we often wonder whether He is hearing our
prayers. We may have suffered some tragedy, such as the loss of a close loved
one, and we wonder, “Where was God when this happened?” Maybe it’s a family
problem that has dragged on for years. We wonder, “Why doesn’t God do something?
Why doesn’t He answer?” Sometimes I’ve struggled with doubt when I’ve needed
some small thing that would be easy for God to provide, something which I knew
would further His work, and yet in spite of my prayers, God did not answer.
The Lord’s word to Sarah speaks to all of
us who struggle with unbelief: “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?” The
absurdity of the question gives it its punch. How could anything be difficult
for the Lord, who spoke the universe into existence? And if nothing is
difficult for Him, then how can I persist in my unbelief? He makes us confront
our doubt. This story of Abraham and Sarah waiting all these years for the
promised son teaches us an important spiritual lesson: God brings us to the end
of our strength so that we will trust in His ability to do the impossible.
Great :)
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