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ONE DAY AT A TIME

Reflection on Genesis 21:1–7

Why did God wait until Abraham was a hundred years old before giving him a son? If Sarah was childless because she was unable to conceive, why not give her a child earlier in life when she had greater physical capacity to care for him?

God’s miracles are often timed specifically to validate a message that he has spoken or to build faith in his people. God went out of his way to demonstrate to Abraham and Sarah that indeed he was going to make Abraham into a great nation, and it would not be merely through good luck or natural circumstances. The building of this nation would be God’s doing. He made it exceedingly clear from beginning to end that this was his work, not Abraham’s or Sarah’s. And in the process, he established Abraham as Scripture’s great example of faith.

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