Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?" Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the LORD ? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh." Genesis 18:10-15

Oftentimes we find ourselves wondering what God's plan for our life must be. Things seem to be going along just fine, we've found our place in the world so it seems and then, out of nowhere, life changes so suddenly, our plans don't seem to make sense anymore, and we have to stop and ask God, "Hey, what just happened?"

This must have been how Sarah was feeling when she was sitting inside her tent eavesdropping on her husbands conversation with the "Lord" outside. She was old, she and Abraham had been married for quite some time, and honestly the opportunity for her to have children had passed. I'm sure she had mourned in her youth for a child. Her heart must have broken each time a woman in her village walked by with a protruding belly. I'm sure her womb ached with envy when a newborn was placed in her arms. So, is it any surprise that now that years had passed that Sarah LOLed at her house guests?

What is interesting about Sarah is that she had traveled with Abraham all over the world, she had a strong marriage, she had slaves, she was very well-off. The one thing she didn't have, was a child of her own. So, when she laughed out loud and the "Lord" asked "Why did Sarah just laugh," it's strange that she would deny it. It seems that Sarah had ever right to laugh, the idea of her getting pregnant at such an old age was UNHEARD of ... it was down right funny. Why not laugh?

Because laughing proved a small truth about Sarah, and all of us. Her laughter proves that for a brief moment she doubted God. The God that had protected her family thus far, the God that had given her gifts galore, she doubted could give her the one thing left of her heart's desire ... a child. We see Sarah's weakness in her faith later on in this story, when she doesn't get pregnant right away, she sends her slave into Abraham so that he can have a son with her. These two actions prove that even though Sarah was blessed beyond measure, she still doubted that God could do all he promised.

However, when I read this chapter in Genesis, I love that Sarah laughed. Because it shows how human she really was. It reminds me that we all laugh in the face of who God sometimes, and that, even though it happened, God STILL gave Sarah a son of her own. Even though she made mistake after mistake, even though she doubted, God didn't give up on her, God gave her everything that she asked for.

Sarah laughed because it seemed impossible, later, I like to imagine, Sarah laughed because it all came true. Sarah first laughed out of fear and doubt, but, in the end, it seems that God and Sarah ended up laughing together. Yes. You did laugh.

Discussion Questions:

1. When have you gone through a time when something seemed impossible but God made a way?

2. How do you see Sarah, was she wrong to laugh? Right?

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