Part 1 – Flexibility Training – Reading
Sarah had passed that point long ago. She was 90 and well into menopause. Even before menopause set in she had not been able to have a child. That was hard. All those years being married to Abraham. Waiting, hoping, waiting, hoping, waiting, waiting, waiting, hope fading. Even calling him his new name, Abraham, “The Father of a Multitude” must have been hard for her. And when her servant had a son with no problem, that must also have eaten at her faith. No, she had long passed the point of being able to hope for a child of her own.
And now, what is this God is telling Abraham? She overheard “This time next year, Sarah will have a son.” Right, now that I’m old and worn out. A laugh, likely a heart-broken laugh, escaped from her.
Read Genesis 18:1-15, then skip over to read chapter 21:1-7.
ESV – Genesis 18 – BibleHub
NLT – Genesis 18 – BibleHub
ESV – Genesis 21 – BibleHub
NLT – Genesis 21 – BibleHub
What did you notice about the laughter in chapter 18? How was it different from the laughter in chapter 21?
This was a hard season for both Sarah and Abraham. They had the grief of their long-lost hope for a child between them. But they also had the trials of the day to day stacked on top of that. There was the wickedness of their neighbors in Sodom and Gomorrah. There was the whole King Abimelech having the hots for Sarah and Abraham once again giving his wife away to another man. (Click here for more on that story.) There was Abimelech’s men messing with Abraham’s wells. Not to mention the tension in the home with Hagar and Ishmael. Lots of struggles to deal with, and yet they both believed nothing is impossible for God.
PART 2 – Strength Training – Memory & Thinking
Don’t forget to go back and review the first week of verses you learned. Then add this one to the list.
Genesis 18:14 “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.”
Colossians 2:11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
Genesis 15:6 And [Abraham] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Romans 4:13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
As the descendants of Abraham became a nation, they grew proud of their ancestor and thought that all they needed was to be of Abraham’s blood, or seed. But as Jesus and Paul taught, physical descent from Abraham was not the important thing because God could raise up more descendants for Abraham in seemingly impossible ways. It is more important to have a faith like Abraham’s.
Luke 3:8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
Romans 9:6-8 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
Part 3 – Cardio Training – Prayer
“Is anything to hard for the Lord?” Ask God to show you the reality of that question. You might begin with something like this:
Dear Father, like Sarah, I’ve been waiting for ______________ for a long time. There are times I can believe that You will answer this prayer so close to my heart. But I must confess, there are times that I find it hard to hope You will still answer – rather, that Your answer isn’t “no.” And I know it may be “no.” Help me to trust that You know best what should be and should not be. But help me also be like Sarah in that I believe it when You say nothing is impossible for You. Help me continue to believe this truth. Help me to know this.
Part 4 – Endurance Training
It’s hard to not dwell on things we shouldn’t and to push those thoughts out of our minds. It would actually be impossible, except for the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. If you find a thought that makes you laugh at God, work to push it out of your mind. If it won’t go, cry out to God and ask for help. Think instead on Him and how He has cared for you this week. Think of the memory verses that you have been studying. Let these Words of God push out the unwanted thoughts. This is an uphill part of the Christian life, but one that is so important to persevere through. Train your mind to think godly thoughts.
And keep coming back to continue reading through the Bible so you have better examples and thoughts to reflect on.
An Extra Lap
There was a lot of laughing in this section. Did you find yourself chewing Sarah out in your mind for laughing when God said she’d have a child of her own this time next year? Or perhaps you remembered that Abraham had also laughed. After all, she had already gone through menopause (verse 11). It may be possible to have complete faith in God yet have times when our first reaction (okay, and maybe a second and third reaction) is to laugh and say to ourselves, “Yeah, right.” But, we are told that we need to train our minds to be obedient. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians said it this way: “We capture every rebellious thought and teach them to obey Christ.” Sarah must have done this because Hebrews 11:11 (see below) said she trusted God and considered Him faithful.
Faith Gym 