When God Fulfills the Impossible

The God Who Keeps His Promises

Reflections on Genesis 21:1-21

Faith and Fulfillment

Abraham’s Journey to Fatherhood at 100

Trusting God Beyond Our Limits

Sarah’s Surprising Joy

From Doubt to Delight

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14)

In Genesis 21, God fulfills His long-promised word to Abraham and Sarah, bringing forth a son, Isaac, when Abraham was 100 years old. This miraculous birth not only reflects God’s faithfulness but also calls us to deeper trust in His ability to do what seems impossible. Abraham and Sarah’s journey reminds us of the unshakable nature of God’s promises, even when doubt and delay cloud our faith.

Trusting God with the Impossible (Genesis 21:1-7)

Who would have believed that Abraham and Sarah could bear a child in their old age? As Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “When we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” Abraham and Sarah’s faith journey was filled with delays and moments of doubt, but God’s timing was perfect. The birth of Isaac at such an advanced age showcases that nothing is beyond God’s power.

N.T. Wright points out that “God’s promises are not confined by human limitations; they are boundless, reaching across time and our understanding.” This miracle of Isaac’s birth calls us to hand over our big problems and impossible situations to God. As Rick Warren says, “When you have a big problem, you have a big opportunity to see God’s power.”

Sarah’s Joy and God’s Faithfulness (Genesis 21:6-7)

After years of waiting, Sarah’s joy overflowed. “God has brought me laughter,” she said, “and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). Sarah’s laughter reflects both astonishment and joy in God’s promise finally coming to pass. Her previous doubts and attempts to take matters into her own hands had robbed her of peace, but God’s fulfilled promise brought unexpected delight.

Matthew Henry notes, “When we focus on God’s promises rather than our doubts, we are granted peace beyond measure.” Just as Sarah could finally laugh with joy, so can we, knowing that God always keeps His word, no matter how unlikely it seems.

Eugene Peterson reminds us that faith isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about trusting in a faithful God who does. “Faith is not something we work up but something we trust in—the faithfulness of God.”

God’s Care for Ishmael (Genesis 21:8-21)

Even as Isaac, the son of promise, took center stage, God’s compassion extended to Ishmael. Cast out from Abraham’s family, Hagar and Ishmael were vulnerable in the desert. Yet God reassured Hagar, promising that Ishmael too would become a great nation (Genesis 21:18). God hears and cares for the outcast and the broken-hearted, reminding us of His boundless mercy.

Alexander Maclaren highlights this passage as a testament to God’s grace: “Our God is a God who sees and hears, especially the cries of those whom others have rejected.” In Ishmael’s life, we see a God who provides, even when circumstances seem hopeless.

John Calvin observed, “The providence of God shines forth in Ishmael’s story, revealing that none are abandoned beyond His reach.”

Reflecting on God’s Promises Today

Genesis 21 challenges us to reflect on where we might struggle to believe God’s promises in our own lives. Like Sarah, our hearts may be troubled with doubt, and like Hagar, we may feel abandoned. But God is faithful to keep His word. Trusting God’s timing and surrendering our fears and doubts to Him leads to peace, joy, and fulfillment, as His promises never fail.

“The same God who kept His promise to Abraham and Sarah will be faithful in our lives,” says Tim Keller. “His promises are reliable and more certain than anything else in the world.”

A Prayer of Trust

Dear Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness and for reminding us through Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar that You keep Your promises. Help us to trust You when the way seems impossible and to find peace in Your timing. May we, like Sarah, find joy in Your faithfulness and rest in Your unchanging love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Supporting Scriptures

• Luke 1:37 – “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

• Psalm 27:10 – “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.”

• Psalm 145:13 – “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.”

Soli Deo Gloria

From Doubt to Faith

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio, c. 1602

The Transformative Journey of Thomas

In the gospel of John, we encounter the story of Thomas, often remembered as "Doubting Thomas." His journey from skepticism to profound faith serves as a timeless reminder of the transformative power of encountering Jesus.

Despite witnessing the miracles and teachings of Jesus alongside his disciples, Thomas struggled to believe in the resurrection. When his companions joyously proclaimed encountering the risen Lord, Thomas remained skeptical, demanding tangible proof. It's a relatable human response—doubt often creeps in when faced with the miraculous.

Yet, Jesus, in His infinite grace and compassion, didn't cast Thomas aside for his doubt. Instead, He met Thomas in his skepticism, offering not condemnation but an invitation to deeper faith. When Jesus appeared to the disciples again, He specifically addressed Thomas, inviting him to touch His wounds, to see and believe.

In that moment of encounter, doubt gave way to awe-inspiring faith. As Thomas beheld the scars of Jesus' crucifixion, he uttered the profound confession, "My Lord and my God!" In that declaration, Thomas not only acknowledged Jesus' resurrection but also His divine identity.

Thomas' journey teaches us that doubt doesn't disqualify us from encountering Jesus; rather, it serves as a catalyst for deeper faith. Jesus invites us, like Thomas, to bring our doubts and skepticism to Him, knowing that He meets us where we are and leads us into profound revelation.

As we navigate our own seasons of doubt and uncertainty, may we be encouraged by Thomas' story. Let us approach Jesus with our questions and uncertainties, knowing that He lovingly invites us to explore, to touch His wounds, and to encounter the reality of His resurrection. In that encounter, doubt can be transformed into unshakable faith, and we, like Thomas, can declare, "My Lord and my God!"

Soli Deo Gloria

Doubting Thomas

Reading John 20: 24-29

Many of us can identify with St. Thomas as the patron Saint of Doubt. We are constantly bombarded with situations where we have to decide to believe or disbelieve, to trust or distrust, facts or fiction, and so on and so forth. Yet over time the decisions we make mold us into becoming who we are today. When the disciples break the good news that Jesus is alive, Thomas is very clear about his terms of faith in the resurrection. Unless he sees and touches the scars on Jesus’ hands and side, he remains steadfast in his disbelief of the testimony of the disciples (John 20:24-25). We wonder where Thomas was when Jesus appeared to the disciples. Did Thomas stay away from the fellowship of the disciples because he is so brokenhearted from the betrayal, arrest, duplicitous trial and brutal death of Jesus? 

There are two notable incidents in the gospel of John where we see Thomas speaking passionately to Jesus and the disciples. The first time is when Jesus is called urgently to come to Judea to heal the dying Lazarus, however the Jews were all set to stone him if they crossed paths. Thomas, filled with love and loyalty to Jesus, courageously says he would go with Jesus to his death (John 11:7-16). The second time is at the last supper when Jesus reveals he is going away soon to the father saying, “You know the way to where I am going” (John 14:4-7). On hearing this revelation Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” The impatient despair in Thomas’s frank question to Jesus is clear evidence that he doesn’t really understand who Jesus was or what he meant by this departing dialogue.

Is Thomas so brokenhearted that he just can’t get past the grief and doubts that overwhelm him? Or is it that he desperately longs to have the same personal experience that the other disciples had with the Lord? It is amazing that even after being with Jesus at the raising of Lazarus from the dead, he just does not understand that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

A week later Jesus comes back to visit his disciples and this time Thomas is with them. Jesus knows Thomas has doubts so he asks Thomas to touch and see that all his conditions for belief are met. Looking at Jesus with awe and reverence all he can say is, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus says to Thomas,”You believe because you have seen with your own eyes. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:26-29). Jesus says we are blessed if we can believe in his resurrection without having seen him like his disciples.The gospel message that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God by whom we all receive eternal life can be found in the Bible. The sermons and parables of Jesus, along with the testimony, epistles and acts of the apostles are all we need to believe. Above all practicing the two commandments that are fundamental to our faith and witness as Christians is our love for God and our neighbor.

Don’t we all have our share of doubts and need for personal experiences? We have our own threshold for when we are willing to believe anyone or anything. Isn’t the opposite of doubt, faith? St. Anselm of Canterbury of the eleventh century is famous for his quote, “faith seeking understanding” (fides quaerens intellectum). What he means by that often misunderstood quote is, “an active love for God seeking a deeper knowledge of God.” To build our faith in Jesus, we have to first accept that God loves us and we in turn love him too. Just as St. Anselm’s love drove him to a deeper knowledge, we should use this as a model to grow our faith through this mutual bond of love with the Lord. As we face trials and tests in our lives that cause us to doubt, we learn to grow in faith by the confidence (hope) that God loves us and wants the best for us in our life. St. Paul says that to build our faith without love is really nothing of any value (1 Corinthians 13:2).

In the psalms we see that the Psalmists never question whether God exists but they lament crying out to God why they have been abandoned or their enemies have dominion over them. It is amusing that in St. Anselm’s book, Proslogion, he writes about the “Fool” who has said in his heart, “There is no God” (like the psalmist says Psalm 14:1). In this meditation he strives to reach the Christians who seek a rational basis for their faith in God. St. Anselm’s conclusion with so much of reverence and awe is, “A being than which none greater can be conceived must exist, and we call this being God.”

St. Paul says that God decides the measure of faith each one receives (Romans 12:3). For some faith is a God given gift. A key to faith is to humbly understand our identity in Christ. We judge ourselves conscientiously based on how God sees us and not as the world does. To some doubt is a normal phase in their spiritual lives, there is no need to be alarmed by those thoughts and feelings.  Michael Faraday the brilliant scientist who grew up in a good Christian home, became a believer much later in his life. He was a faithful member of a church from boyhood but passed through a sea of doubts until one day he came to humbly witness the reality of Christ in his life. It was his perseverance to seek God through his fellowship with other believers and share in their faith experiences that leads him to finally become a believer (Luke 11:5-12). When brilliant scientists like Faraday doubt yet still believe it gives us hope.

C. S. Lewis in his book “ Grief Observed ” writes about the pain of losing his wife when he doubted the goodness and fairness of God. He says, “My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered from time to time. He shatters it himself. He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of his presence?” When spiritual giants like Lewis doubt yet still believe, it gives us hope. To Lewis, faith comes to us as a gift, the grace of the comforting presence of God reaching out and touching our shattered lives, when we confront significant downturns like death, disease, alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse, bankruptcy etc. Like the potter shapes and reshapes each piece to his delight, so God shapes us into masterpieces with his skill and creativity (Ephesians 2:10).

Jesus said to to Thomas,”You believe because you have seen with your own eyes. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:26-29).  How do we believe in an invisible God? It is by being joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer (Romans 12:12).  St Paul urges us to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to God and use our gifts to serve one another in love (Romans 12:1-2, 6-8). We are bound to face trials and turbulences in our lives. Can we climb half way up a mountain and then give up? If we do reach heights that seem unscalable in life, with the help of the Holy Spirit we persist in prayer like the parable of the persistent widow until we find our way again (Luke 18:1-8). There will be times we lament with all our heart to God like the Psalmist until we are comforted by the presence of God in our lives (Psalm 55:17). The important act of faith is to pray fervently and not let our problems and pain fester within us. When we articulate our doubts to a caring prayer fellowship group it helps to clean up the toxicity in our lives. The path to spiritual maturity is through childlike humility of learning to trust in the path God has carved out for us to walk through (Matthew 18:1-4). A critical step in prayer is when we surrender our doubts to a loving God and ask him to help us understand with the help of the Holy Spirit enlightening us with God’s Word. We stand on the promises that God the author and perfecter of our faith will mold us to be perfect one day. (Hebrews 12:2; Romans 8:29-30; Philippians 1:6). 

Prayer: - Lord Jesus, your living presence in the lives of Thomas and the other disciples drew them with chords of love to believe in your resurrection. Oh Lord shine in our hearts the light of your glory that we may grow in faith, hope and love to believe in you as our Savior and Lord. Amen

Soli Deo Gloria