MIRACLES ARE TEMPORARY SIGNPOSTS

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” Genesis 18:11–12

Sarah had been beside her husband all those years since the call that is recorded for us in Genesis 12. They had both left their homeland to go to the land that God would show them. There had also been promises of being made a great and mighty nation. So far, they only had one child- Ishmael, through Hagar. But on the day that God formalized the call by entering into a covenant with Abraham and His descendants, He also affirmed that He intended to bless them with children, through Sarah. Abraham probably told Sarah. Sarah probably didn’t believe it. This chapter shows us a time when Sarah quietly voiced her views. And they are worth interrogating.

In the story, the narrator presents to us the main obstacle that Sarah faced in believing God’s promise. The hindrance was her age. She was very old. Not just old but advanced in years. In other words, whether by the standards of those ancient times or the initial audience that was learning about this part of their history, it made sense to all that Sarah was incapable of conceiving children because she was old. There was even the biology of the human female anatomy to remind her: “The way of women ceased to be with Sarah.” Which could mean that at almost 90 years old, she was way past menopause.

This is the kind of woman who hears the Lord say of her, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Her response is curt but sensible to us. She laughs and says many things with very few words- After I am worn out, and my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure?

If I were to say what she said with my many words, it would sound something like this:

“I have been with this body long enough to know I am incapable of conceiving. I endured the silent sorrow of those many monthly periods that declared me not pregnant. There were days when I missed my cycle and hoped a little. But even that was quickly dashed when they returned. It was probably my body responding to the changes as we camped in different places. To a woman longing for a child, every monthly period can feel like the body accusing you of your incapability to conceive. By the time I was 50 years old, I suspected that I was barren. I could bore you with the details of how I felt betrayed by the first menstrual periods after Abraham first came to tell me about his call and how God had promised to make Him a great nation. I was 65 years old then and it hurt a lot to dare to hope only to fail to conceive in the years after that. We would go on to become wealthier, and my beauty was unfading, but still I was barren. At least my body doesn’t send the monthly reminders any more.

Again, God later appeared to Abram in a vision reassuring him that his own flesh and blood would be the heir of the greatness that God was bringing about in his life. Abram actually believed it so I figured that we we were to have children it would take a different route. I knew that it must be God Himself who kept me from having children so I suggested that Abram use a more realistic means- to have a child through our servant Hagar. It was after all, a culturally appropriate way that we could have had an heir. Abram was 86, and I was 76 when Ishmael was born. Obviously, that didn’t go so well. When Abram was 99 years old the Lord AGAIN appeared to him. This time, there was no mistaking what He had said. “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.” It is a cruel thing to awaken false hope in someone when all facts point to the reality that they can never have what you promise. I am worn out and very old. I may have a new name but I am still the same person. 25 years of waiting on the Lord yet this body has not successfully carried any pregnancy. What is going to be different this time round?

Sarah’s struggle to believe has a few elements that I would like us to unpack together. First, just the general unbelief about the promise. Secondly, it is the challenge of timing. Why would God keep her waiting for 20 plus years only to give her a son when she was advanced in age? How long realistically can these old parents enjoy this gift? We almost question the miracle's worth based on our perceived ideal quality and quantity. And how come God was so selective in giving only 1 child? Were there other barren women not blessed in the same way? Finally, all together we are examining the miracles of God and His purposes through them. Our case study is Sarah’s story.

Against Unbelief

It does not come as a surprise to us how Sarah responds to what she hears from the LORD. It is a real thing, don’t you think? How our very real past experiences, hurt, disappointments, facts of details etc can harden our hearts so much that we mistrust God altogether? So much that we no longer expect good from the good God? That we become cynical about any promised transformation that God would want to bring about in our lives?

It is an understandable thing to struggle with unbelief, but God wouldn’t want us to make it our dwelling place. It is a sin against His character and His covenantal commitment to His children. The truth of the matter is this: without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him (Heb 11:6). Those who do not have faith are unlikely to seek God in those matters that they struggle with. The larger the list of things you can’t entrust to God, the more likely you are to forsake Him and turn to another. Even if that “another” is yourself.

When we are faced with God’s promises of His commitment to us, and the teachings of His faithfulness, we ought to train our hearts to believe Him. To believe that He is good and that He does good things. To believe that He is faithful to fulfill all that concerns us in accordance to His good will and purpose for us. And when we waver through unbelief because we are consumed by the contradicting facts of our circumstances, may the Lord give us the courage to cry out to Him to help us in our unbelief.

Delayed Miracles

Look again at what she says, “After I am worn out.”

First of all, 25 years is a long time to keep a woman waiting. At this point she is very old, about 90 years old. Carrying a pregnancy generally is hard. How much more when the woman is advanced in years? Even as a blessing, it is one that would likely take a huge toll on Sarah’s body.

Sometimes we look at the time that a miracle arrives and we question why God did not perform it sooner. We reckon that it is nice of Jesus to have provided high-quality wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2), but it would have been better to do it earlier in the wedding party when the guests could have appreciated its great flavors. We are glad he opened the eyes of the blind man (John 9) but wonder why he had to endure much scorn and be the subject of many a theological discussion prior to receiving his miracle. We agree that it is a nice thing He brought Lazarus back to life (John 11), but like the two sisters we wonder why he didn’t just prevent the death to begin with. He has come but he is late. We can assess various miracles and imagine that God would be more glorified if He acted in the timelines that we think to be better.

Again, while our questions may be understandable, they can also be faulty. The main problem with this criticism is that we consider ourselves better judges of ideal timing for God’s miracles to come about. Between you and God, which of you knows best about the perfect time for His name to be glorified through a miracle. Shouldn’t we hold more room for the possibility that God can and is also glorified through the waiting? Not just the climax of the miracle performed?

In the grand scheme of things where God is God and I am not, it is with humility that I must accept He is a better judge at the best timing for any of His miracles. His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts far more superior and perfect than my own.

Short-lived Miracles

This aspect may not be very straightforward from Sarah’s story, but I think there are elements therein. Consider how Sarah waited until she was 90 to have a child, but only enjoyed raising him for about 37 years. She died before her son married and never enjoyed the pleasure of being a grandmother. Even Isaac’s wife, who would also experience barrenness, never got to receive direct encouragement from Sarah. It seems that Sarah never got to make the most of her miracle blessing. This brings to mind the brevity of miracles.

Miracles are inherently short-lived. They do not last forever. The wine at the wedding eventually ended. The blind man would eventually close his eyes at his death. The resurrected Lazarus would also die again! We may rejoice at the power of God displayed in miraculous works, but underneath it is the unshakeable fact that it won’t last forever.

I think for some of us, this is at the base of our distrust of God’s involvement in our lives. For example, why would God orchestrate a match made in heaven only for them to split up or for one of them to die a short while after their wedding? Why have a smooth pregnancy result in either the parent or the child dying when young, or the child born with a disability? Why would God financially provide miraculously for medical treatment only to result in a worse illness later or for something even more minute to take you out? Why get an excellent job reference only to be forced to leave briefly after? When our view of how long we should enjoy a miracle/blessing differs from God’s timing, our faith may take a hit. So much so that we cease to see the goodness that was in those miracles.

Even in there temporary-ness, they always serve a point. Is it possible for a loving human parent who is limited in resources to give their child a once-in-a-lifetime experience even though it won’t last forever? I think, yes. The parent may do so because they are determined to show their child that they are willing to do whatever they can to demonstrate their love. How much more the good God who intends no ill-will for His children? None of God’s miracles is wasted, no matter how short-lived.

God is able to work all things together for good. It is not uncommon for someone to fully enjoy a blessing even though to an outsider they think it was short-lived. God know how to fully satisfy the desires of our hearts, even with brief blessings, if we will keep our minds stayed on Him. To be content in Him and the ways He chooses to gift us.

But what about when we just can’t seem to agree with the brevity of His blessings? What about if we never get around to seeing the meaning in the short-lived miracles because they led to some other pains? To this I respond with a question Rev Munala asked in a sermon about Acknowledging God in all our ways. It is a question I often go back to when I don’t yet see the beauty or sense of God allowing certain things in my life. The question is this: Is God sovereign enough in your life to do things without explaining them to you? If yes, then we can keep trusting Him with all that concerns us, our loved ones, and the things that matter to us. To cling to the fact that God is faithful at all times. Perhaps someday in glory, we will finally understand the mystery of it all.

Selective Miracles

Besides the matter of wasted miracles as judged by our ideas of ideal timing and longevity of the blessing, someone may struggle with the selective nature of miracles. We pray to the God of Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth about infertility today yet He doesn’t always do the same for us. If He did it for them, why won’t He do it for us?

Miracles, I think, are reminders of how the all-powerful, Sovereign God is also very personal. The all-powerful God does not need to prove to anyone that He can perform miracles. After all, didn’t He create the whole world out of nothing? What is one more human? God then sovereignly determines which of His children need what miracle to fulfill that which He intends to accomplish in, through, and for them. And it is frustrating, right? Especially when you deeply long for the something that He can do but He won’t be arm-twisted to give it to you. You cannot bribe God with resources or promises. Whether you cry or sulk, God does whatever He wants in accordance with His will. He alone is God, and we are not.

It is worth acknowledging that this selective characteristic of miracles is not altogether new. The number of barren women who conceived in the Bible is countable: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Samson’s mum, Hannah, the Shunamite woman, and Elizabeth. While it is possible that there were more, it is also likely that there were other barren women who never conceived at all. Jesus Himself didn’t heal all the people who were sick or needed a miracle. God has been consistent in performing miracles in those who He chooses. It would be self-righteous to judge God as unfair and un-trustworthy simply because He withholds the desired miracle from us when that has always been how He did it.

So why would God give us these stories if not to help us if we have similar desires? Why have miracles at all when they are short-lived?

Miracles signpost us to the Eternal One

MIRACLES ARE TEMPORARY SIGNPOSTS

Miracles are temporary signposts meant to lead us to the Eternal One. If our appetite for miracles does not lead us to long for the Eternal One, then maybe it is not God’s miracles that we seek. We may just be seeking the miraculous as an end in themselves, the very thing that was characteristic of those who sought signs from Jesus but they were unwilling to believe in Him as the Promised Messiah. To those who have faith in God, miracles are wonderful aids to help us behold the character of God.

God is faithful in all He does. Picking up on the story of Sarah, Hebrews 11:11 says, “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.” Her long wait and endurance led Sarah to the conclusion that God is faithful. This would be a lesson that her descendants would also learn through the years. How He is faithfully committed to keeping His covenant promises. Whereas Sarah waited for decades, the world would end up waiting for thousands of years to behold the Son given. If we were perplexed at an old worn-out woman conceiving a child by the seed of her equally old husband, we would be even more shocked at a Virgin woman conceiving by the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as God was faithful to give Sarah the promised son, He would be faithful to bring the Promised Son who would save the whole world from their sins.

And when you observe the pattern of how that Promised Son performed miracles, you would see that they served as a sign to truths He wanted us to know about Him and God the Father. Those who rightly interpreted the miracles He performed in them wanted to stay with and worship Him (eg John 9:35–38, Mark 5:18). Then He cautioned others to be careful about how they lived after the miracle, as they might end up wandering away from the faithful God (eg John 5:14).

Is it possible that you are like Martha who, though acknowledging that Christ is the Resurrection and the Life, still struggle to heal from the disappointment of what seems like God’s delay which cost your loved one’s life?

Do you still seek after the miraculous turning of your fate and fortunes when Christ continues to call out to you that He is the ultimate satisfaction that you seek? When Christ is the Living Water who satisfies our innermost being.

Do you yet await physical healing to pick up your mat and go rather than rejoice in the knowledge that your sins are forgiven and your spiritual blindness forever lifted?

Truthfully, which is more impressive to you? To say to you- “this time next year you, though a barren woman, will have a child”, OR to say to you-“You have been delivered up for your trespasses and raised unto justification.” That you have received an imperishable, indestructible hope in Christ Jesus?

Far be it from any of us that we should shipwreck our faith in Christ in pursuit of miracles which are only temporary in light of eternity. Beware that you are not tossed to and fro by any doctrines that make miracles an ultimate pursuit for the Christian life.

Stand firm in the truth that the God who gave us His Promised Son as the Messiah and our deliverer, will be faithful in His dealings with you. He knows you well. He has no ill-intentions towards you in the blessings that He gives or withholds from you. Amen?