Let Faith Arise
by Ivan Ho 24 Oct 2020
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.
FAITH is personal and not everyone has the same measure of faith. Faith is something that can be developed in a person. When Sarah was told she would give birth to a child at her old age, she initially laughed at the idea. She even caused much pain and troubles by setting up Hagar to have child with Abraham. But ultimately she too was vindicated by her faith in giving birth to Issac. A person who has no faith in the beginning can develop faith if he holds fast to the word spoken over his life. Without the word of God, there is no substance to base our faith on.
God is not impressed by the abundance of religious activities we involve ourselves in, nor is he impressed by the physical qualities people tend to look for in churches. The bible tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) Many things are done in the name of Christianity but only that which are done in faith would be pleasing to God. The heroes who are recorded in the bible are the ones who demonstrated good TESTIMONY of Faith. (Hebrews 11)
If we consider Sarah’s life and the role she played in the fulfilment of God’s covenant with Abraham, we can see that she had gone through a major transformation, from a skeptical unbeliever to a woman of faith. The bible says that Sarah “judged Him faithful who had promised“. She no longer focused on her own inability to bear a child but instead realigned her mindset towards the faithfulness of God.
Sarah’s transformation was prophesied by God who changed her name from Sarai to Sarah:
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Genesis 17:15-16
The fact of the matter is, no matter how much faith Abraham had, as a man he wouldn’t be able to give birth to children. Sarah had to arise in her faith or else there wouldn’t be any Issac. For Abram to become Abraham, the father of many nations, Sarai needed to become Sarah, a mother of nations.
When things do not seem to happen according to God’s plan A, if we look to God’s faithfulness to His original word, we won’t end up fabricating plan B and producing an “Ishmael” incidence in our life.
When God gives us His promises, the focus is not on us nor our capability or circumstances but on God who speaks. Our faith is based on God’s faithfulness. Often times, when things look totally impossible in our eyes, that’s when we will see God move!