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Renewing Our Strength in the Lord:

Sarah – Believing the Impossible!

Life B-P Church Worship Service, 11^th May 2025

Text: Hebrews 11:11; Genesis 18:1-15

• Hebrews 11:11 commends Sarah for her faith - one that includes struggles, flaws, growth, and finally, fulfilment (Genesis 12-21). Sarah’s faith was not perfect, but it was real, and God honoured her faith.

1. Faith is Not Always Perfect

• The reaction of Sarah to the promise of God was one of sheer incredulousness or unbelief - she “laughed within herself” (Genesis 18:12). Her laugh was a laugh of unbelief because she was doubly barren – she was unable to conceive (Genesis 11:30), and she was past the age of childbearing (Genesis 18:11; Romans 4:19).
• Faith is not always perfectly expressed. Sarah struggled in her faith. Some of us struggle with doubts and unbelief when circumstances seem impossible – cf Luke 24:10-11; 8:22-25; 1:5-18; Mark 9:23-24. God honours real faith even when it is mixed with doubts or fears.
• Faith grows through wrestling & struggling. Faith is not about perfection but progress - like a child learning to walk. God doesn’t reject weak faith; He meets us in our doubts & strengthens our trust in Him (Matthew 12:20). Faith is not the absence of doubt but trusting God amid it.

2. Faith Rests on God's Promise

• Hebrews 11:11 highlights Sarah’s faith because she ultimately trusted in God’s faithfulness: “she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

- When Sarah laughed within herself, the omniscient God saw & knew what transpired in her inner being (Genesis 18:12-13). 

- God asked a rhetorical question, “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14a). This question redirects Sarah’s focus from her physical limitations to God’s omnipotence. When Sarah tried to deny she laughed, the LORD confronted her denial (Genesis 18:15).

• It dawned on Sarah that this “man” speaking to her was the living God; and she knew that nothing was impossible for such a God.
• Sarah’s faith rested on God’s promise.

- This was a specific word from God (Genesis 18:10).

- Sarah reflected on God's character - “she judged Him faithful who had promised.” No one is as faithful and as powerful as God.

- Sarah chose to trust God’s faithfulness. Faith involves trusting in God's promises, even when circumstances seem impossible.

• Faith is trusting God to fulfill His promises, not our wishes. Faith is tied to God’s promise. Our God is a faithful God (1 Thessalonians 5:24). Trust not in the measure of your faith, but in the Object of your faith – God!

3. Faith Receives Power for the Impossible

• God kept His promise and gave Sarah a son, Isaac, in her old age (Genesis 21:1-7). Her laugh of doubt has become a laugh of joy. Her waiting has turned into witnessing the faithfulness of God. By faith God did that for Sarah at the age of 90. Faith receives what logic can’t explain.
• Sarah “herself” received strength to conceive. God gave the strength, but Sarah received it by faith. She took hold of what God had promised. Faith is the means by which we receive from the hand of God (Mark 11:24; Matthew 7:7; Ephesians 3:20; Hebrews 11:6). Faith is the switch that connects us to the power of an Omnipotent God.
• Sarah had to wait 25 years for the fulfilment of God’s promise.

- Waiting upon God is not wasted time; it's training time. Faith isn’t about perfection – it’s about perseverance (Hebrews 6:12).

- Isaac was the child of promise, the beginning of the line that would lead to Jesus Christ. God’s timing with Abraham and Sarah was part of a bigger redemptive plan. That way He can be more glorified.  Faith is not about being perfect - it’s about trusting the perfect God.

Questions for Discussion

1. What does Sarah's initial reaction to God's promise reveal about the challenges of believing in the impossible? What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to trust God for? Why was it so difficult?

2. God asks, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” How does this question challenge the limits we place on God’s ability to work in our lives? Can you share a time when God fulfilled a promise or answered a prayer that seemed impossible?