Feeling past it?

In recent blog postings, I’ve reflected on Hagar’s situation in Genesis chapters 16 and 21. Alongside this, however, another drama was unfolding, and another woman was feeling her faith sorely tested. Knowing the specifics of the culture that Sarah lived in - where a woman was defined by her sons, and there was shame in being childless - Sarah must have held on to her dream of motherhood for many years before she finally gave up on it. And what made her give up? Probably the feeling of being too old, of being past it. She was already over 65 when God called her husband to journey to a foreign land. For 24 years, God’s promises to Abraham had been repeated and expanded on at various intervals, but there had never been a specific mention of Sarah, not one single time. Perhaps that’s what led her to instigate the unfortunate surrogacy with Hagar, The promised son was to be Abraham’s own flesh and blood, but Sarah simply couldn’t imagine the child coming from her by then 75 or 76 year old body.

By the time we get to Genesis chapter 18, Sarah is 90 years old and, eavesdropping from within her tent, she hears a mysterious stranger tell Abraham that she, Sarah, will have a son within the year. No wonder she laughed in disbelief. Abraham had laughed too when God told him, and it seems that he hadn’t told Sarah about what God said. The two of them were old enough to be great grandparents, and the idea of becoming first time parents probably seemed absurd.

These dear people illustrate for us an attitude that can all too easily creep into our own lives: that it’s possible to believe in the power of an almighty God, and yet find ourselves not taking a promise seriously because of our own perceived limitations. Sarah felt past it; she felt she was too old to be the one through whom God’s promises could be fulfilled. I find myself hovering dangerously close to that same mindset at times. I contemplate the level of physical strength that is needed for a Planting Together outreach in Africa, and everything within me tells me that my arthritis and fibromyalgia disqualify me from being part of something like that. My body feels too weak; I feel past it!

Of course, often there’s great wisdom in adjusting our schedule and involvement to suit our advancing age or failing health. To do otherwise would be poor stewardship of the body God has given us.  The danger we need to watch out for, however, is that of allowing our own limitations to determine whether or not God’s word can really happen. We might feel too old, like Sarah, or too young, like Jeremiah. We might feel, like Moses and Gideon, that we don’t have the talent or experience needed. We might feel that we don’t have the money or we don’t have the confidence. We might feel “past it,” or we might feel that is is way beyond us.

So, we can choose to laugh, as Sarah did, or we can embrace the promise and say, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18: 14)