Unexpected Laughter - Genesis 21

 

Genesis 21 – Unexpected Laughter

 

When did Isaac discover he was the punch line of a joke?  His parents were so old when God informed them about his arrival that they laughed out loud.  Abraham and Sarah’s incredulity in the face of God’s promise was best contradicted by their descendant Jesus when He said, “the things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27. From a human perspective, God’s plan was laughable.  It flew in the face of common sense.  Ninety-year-old women do not get pregnant.  Sarah knew about God’s long-standing promise to her husband.  She had even tried to make it come true by arranging for her husband to have a child with her slave Hagar.  But God had other plans.  Sarah turned up pregnant in her old age.  When Isaac was born, she named him “laughter.” What else would fit a child who had caused such mirth?  Sarah voiced her mixture of delight and embarrassment when she said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear with laugh with me.”  The result of trust in God takes the form of joy, which instigates laughter.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”  Sarah may have laughed, but when Isaac was born, she discovered what real laughter felt like.  The rich laughter that rises in those who have known God’s faithfulness expresses a deep satisfaction.  God will be faithful to His promises in your life.  You may have to wait, but the joy God brings will be as real to you as the laughter that filled Sarah’s life.

Verses 9 -11 Blending Two Families.  Blended families face special challenges, as Abraham discovered.  From the beginning, it had been Sarah’s idea to use Hagar, the slave girl as a surrogate mother for their heir Ishmael. But once Sarah had Isaac, her attitude quickly changed.  By the time Isaac was born, Ishmael was a teenager. Sometime later, when little Isaac was weaned, Ishmael scoffed him, setting off Sarah’s anger.  In this case God advised Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away for the promise was to be accomplished through Isaac.  Yet God intervened miraculously to spare Hagar and Ishmael, showing His love and grace to the rejected woman and her son.  Blended families need special wisdom from God to bring together two separate worlds and to love each other unconditionally.  And for those who feel that they have been “sent away” God’s promises grace and provision saying, “Fear not.”