The Grace of Sarah: a 5-Day Devotional for Those Called to WaitIhe Atụ

Day 5 - Waiting To Exhale

"And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise." -Hebrews 11:11 (NIV)

On day 1, I mentioned the importance of discerning whether you are in a divine waiting season. Naturally, the first question is, how do you know? From Sarah's journey, we can surmise that one way to know is if what you are waiting for is revealed by God and requires His intervention. If, despite your best efforts, the manifestation of the promise cannot come to pass without Him, then you are likely in a divine waiting season. Naturally, the second question becomes, how do you make it through?

We can gather from those we have studied that the common thread is faith. Although waiting is lonely and sometimes causes us to question God’s love and awareness, it also forces us to confront our real understanding of faith.

For Sarah, there was a promise that she and Abraham would be the parents of nations. However, there were two problems – both were up in age, and Sarah was considered barren. Although intimate enough with God that Abraham would later be called His friend (James 2:23), they were in a position where, unless God stepped in, the situation was as good as done.

Was Sarah's faith perfect? No. Like some of us, she laughed at the possibility of it all.

Was it redeemed? Yes, so much so, that she is among the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11.

Could it be that your wait is less about you and more about God’s interest in what your faith could unlock for the generations? What if your testimony is a conduit for others to see His redemptive power?

If you, like Sarah, have been called into a waiting season, be encouraged. The easiest thing to do is to lean on logic, but God moves beyond that. His divine nature means that He sees the spectrum of eternity, including the waiting, your response, the result, and the eternal impact. What if your faith, though shaky at times, will make you stand out like Abraham and earn you the title of "friend of God"?

When you cannot trust what your eyes see and what your emotions feel, trust God’s integrity. When we fix our eyes on the integrity of His character, we can trust that we are not forgotten. The result of your waiting will be for your good and His glory.