“ ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ ”
— Isaiah 55:8 – 9
Sarai, later called Sarah, was a princess. Her name even meant “princess.” But Sarai’s castle was a tent pitched here and there from Canaan to Mesopotamia.
Sarai knew the Lord had promised her husband Abram he’d be the father of a great nation and many generations would come from him. She also knew in order for God to make a great nation from their children, she’d have to have babies who would grow up and have babies. But their cradle was empty. And in that day, if a woman couldn’t have children, people thought God had cursed her. That she’d done something to make God mad at her.
Ten years had passed since God’s promise to give Sarai and Abram children. She was seventy-five years old. She wasn’t getting any younger, and she still hadn’t had a baby. Sarai doubted that God’s promise would ever come true. But God still had his own plan. The Lord came to Abram again. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah.
“I’ll bless Sarah and give you a son by her,” God said, “She’ll be the mother of nations. Kings will come from her.”
Sarah laughed at the thought that she, a ninety-year-old woman, could be having a baby. But nothing gets in the way of God’s plan. When Sarah gave birth to a son, they named him Isaac. The name Isaac means “laughter.” Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. Who would’ve thought I’d nurse a child at my age?”
Sarah learned that God uses a different clock than we do. God keeps his promises, but he does it in his perfect time. And God’s perfect time for something to happen isn’t usually soon enough for us.
Have you ever prayed and prayed and waited and waited for something? Have you ever lost your patience with God? Maybe you prayed for a new brother or sister. Or you asked God to help you pass a math test you studied for. Maybe you prayed for your parents to get back together. Sometimes God says no. Sometimes he says yes. Other times he’ll tell you to wait. Waiting is hard. But God always knows what’s best.
More to Explore: Psalm 27:14
Girl Talk: Have you ever asked God for something and then had to wait a long time for it to happen?
God Talk: “Jesus, please help me remember that your way is best. Help me wait for you with patience and peace. Amen.”
From Real Girls of the Bible by Mona Hodgson