“Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son” - Genesis 18:24 (NIV).
Sarah was getting up in the years and yet had no child as she wished. In fact she was now past child bearing age. Then three visitors came to Abraham with a message that she would have a child. “I will surely return to you about this time and Sarah your wife will have a son” ( Gen 18:20). Sarah who was within hearing and all she could do was laugh with doubt. The Lords answer to her skepticism was, “ Is anything too hard” ( Genesis 18:13). The story ends with her indeed bearing Isaac at a very advanced age!
The situation here still applies to us. There could be a particular matter long pressing on our hearts, say a property we want to acquire. As we get up in the years, with our incomes declining, the energy we had as youth ebbing, suddenly we lose hope. For others it is a scholarship. But what we learn from here is that we should never lose hope in our God. With God all things are possible in His good time. Let us never tire in prayer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prayer for today: Lord Father, today I pray that I should never give up on any of the promises I have in you.
Related upcoming events
-
06/05/2024 - 07/05/2024 All day“Do not confirm to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2)
Almost all cultivators are aware that if soils are used perpetually without rains but constantly under work they are deprived of all nutrients. So, though once productive, they lose all power to yield fresh crops as before. But so is our Christian life when we do not regularly feed our spirit life with the Word!
In our leading verse, the Apostle Paul is urging believers to “renew” their minds rather than make them stale, lest they end up losing all power to yield fruit. But how is this done? We renew our minds by constantly reading the Word of God, for there are always insights with God speaking to us afresh. Psalm 119:104-5 says, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The Apostle Peter reminds us, “Like newborn babies hungry for milk, you should want the pure teaching that feeds your spirit. With it you can grow and be saved.” It is a beautiful illustration for any who have seen a hungry baby sucking the teats of a mother.
Renewing our minds is also by reading about the lives of people of faith who have walked before us and their created works. The Christian faith started in the first century after Jesus was crucified and resurrected from the dead. Now over two millenniums it has produced giants of faith who have shared their walk with God through inspired teachings that are a treasure to dig into. By scouring the writings of the great saints before us, listening to their recorded sermons, songs and preaching, which these days can be found on virtual medial channels like Yu tube, reading their biographies, our faith is renewed.
And then we also renew our faith through fellowship. When the Apostle Paul urges us, “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” ( Hebrews 10:25), he is reminding us that our faith cannot grow in isolation. During the Covid pandemic lockdown one bitter issue was denying Believers opportunity to meet fellow followers of Christ to share testimonies showing the work of God in their lives.
So today, if your faith is on a low keel, or you want it to flower, one thing you can’t help doing without is “renewing” your mind. The blessings to unfold are endless.
Prayer for today:Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a treasure we have of your rich Word to dig into always; books around us of faith to inspire us; and believers to share our faith- may we make use of these, this I pray in Jesus’ name.
