one of those still unsolved mysteries which continue to be debated by inquiring minds or by people with too much time on their hands.  Either way, the debate continues  . . .

I think about this debate as I think about Sarah, Abraham’s wife, waiting on God to give her a child, the child He promised her – the heir He promised to give to Abraham.  So Sarah was waiting, hoping, trusting – and then she wasn’t.  Sarah was done waiting on God.  She decided to take matters into her own hands, to rely on her own wisdom and her own ways to bring about what she was no longer willing to wait on God to do.

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.   . . .   so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children.  Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.’ ”   (Genesis 16:1-2)

And I began to wonder, which left Sarah first?  her hope or her trust?  When did her hope die?  Years were passing, she was continuing to get older.  Her circumstances were not changing, or if they were, they were changing for the worse.  She obviously had lost all hope that God’s promise would be fulfilled because she stopped waiting on Him.

She no longer trusted the One who had made the promise.  Was it when she stopped trusting that her hope died?  Or was it because all her hope was gone that she ceased to trust?  Which died first, her hope or her trust?

If I give up on something or on someone, have I lost hope?  hope that things will be better, different?  Why have I lost hope?  Is it because my circumstances have not changed (like Sarah’s) or have gotten worse?  Have I lost hope because I no longer trust that God is able or that He will change any situation or person in order to accomplish His good and eternal purposes?  When trust is gone, there is no reason for hope to remain.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ”    (Matthew 19:26)   Had Sarah quit believing those words?

Have I at times?  Do I trust God?  He is trustworthy.  But do I believe that?  He says in His word, “I am God, and there is none like Me.   . . .   I say:  My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”    (Isaiah 46:9-10)   I just have to wait on Him. “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14)

It is while waiting that hoping, trusting and believing are put to the test.  When one of these goes, the other two follow.  If I stop believing then I no longer trust and if I no longer trust God then I have no reason to hope that He will keep any of His promises.  When Sarah stopped waiting on God, she stopped believing, she stopped trusting and she stopped hoping.

And yet, God kept His word in spite of this.  “Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised.  Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.”  (Genesis 21:1-2)    So the wait was worth it and it was God’s timing not Sarah’s that prevailed.

How often I grow weary in the waiting.  When I find myself hopeless, I must realize and admit that I have stopped trusting God, because as long as I am trusting God, I have a reason to hope.  Even though I may not know which one left me first, the other one will surely follow, because they exist together.  Trust in God allows me to hope and hope requires that I trust someone able to do all that they promise.

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.”  (Psalm 33:20-21)

sincerely,       Grace Day