Even if our faith falters, it can recover and grow much stronger.
Abraham did not waver through unbelief as the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise. The passage we explored in the previous posts—Romans 4:18–21—describes the state of Abraham’s faith as he neared the end of the journey with the time for Isaac to be conceived drawing near. We know this because Romans 4 describes his faith at “about a hundred years old” (Rom. 4:19). At that point he did not waver through unbelief.
But what was the state of his and Sarah’s faith 15 years earlier?
Leaning on their own understanding
When Abraham was 85 and Sarah 75, Sarah grew impatient with waiting to become pregnant. This was 10 years after God initially promised Abraham that he would be father of nations. Genesis 16:2 says, “Sarai said to Abram, ‘Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.’” By Sarah’s calculations, she and Abraham could not wait any longer.
In their culture it was acceptable for barren couples to get a child by the wife’s giving her servant to her husband as a surrogate mother. So what should the man of faith make of his wife’s idea? The situation was not clear, for the promises God had given Abraham never specifically said Sarah would birth his child. God had simply promised, “I will make of you a great nation” (Gen. 12:2) and “Your very own son shall be your heir” (Gen. 15:4). So Abraham could have felt he had leeway to lower his expectations and think the Lord would fulfill the promise, sort of, through Hagar.
When Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith falters
But until this moment, that had not been his hope. He and Sarah had assumed that God would give Sarah a child, and with good reason. For Abraham to have the child of promise by another woman was not the ideal revealed in creation, that a man have one wife. It is clear that Sarah came to this decision reluctantly. Having a child by Hagar was not worthy of the man who had received exalted promises from God. Everything about this seemed wrong.
Nevertheless they did it. They did it because they were confused; they were frustrated; they were leaning on their own understanding. It was easier than waiting on God. And the results were not good.
Faith that flickered, and reignited
But that misstep did not extinguish God’s promises. Their failure did not snuff out the promise because it did not snuff out their faith. Years ago for a birthday celebration my wife bought novelty candles that could not be blown out, at least not for long. When the candle was puffed out, the wick glowed for a moment and then popped into flame again. In a similar way, faith eventually reignited in Abraham as well as Sarah.
Abraham did not receive the miraculous birth of Isaac by his faith alone. Sarah’s faith also played a key role. Her faith returned as great faith. She even makes it into the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, which says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised” (v. 11). Sarah’s faith enabled her to conceive. Abraham did not have Isaac apart from Sarah’s body or Sarah’s faith.
Faithful
This verse describes the content of her faith. “She considered him faithful who had promised.” After Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, Sarah waited about 14 more years in barrenness, but those years did not diminish her belief in God’s faithfulness; rather, her faith increased. This is the delicious fruit of waiting on the Lord. After faltering at age 75, with each passing year her confidence grew that God’s nature is to be faithful to his promises, faithful to his covenants, faithful to his word, faithful to his nature, faithful to his people. He does not change; he does not fail. No one is as faithful as God. His faithfulness is holy, beyond our full comprehension. Nonetheless Sarah comprehended it enough to receive power to conceive and deliver a child at age 90.
Even if you who have faltered in faith, the test of waiting on the Lord can galvanize a deeper conviction that God is perfectly faithful.
This must be one reason he has you wait, and you are not alone.
In the next post—the conclusion of this series—we see that the Bible is a book full of people in waiting.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)