Double Blessing

CORE PRACTICE #17: Remember that God will answer your prayers in His own timing—and in ways you might not expect.

She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. —Genesis 21:2

Lauren

Think about God answering the prayers of Abraham and Sarah for a moment. If nothing else, it will give you a dramatic boost in assurance that God is powerful and He will do what He promises.

Consider this: When Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she was about ninety-one years old, and Abraham was one hundred years old. God had always planned it for that time—even when He had first promised Abram (he was still going by his given name then) a son twenty-five years before.

But by age ninety-nine, Abram seemed to have lost hope that he and his wife would ever have a child of their own. Genesis 17 tells us that the Lord appeared to him and made a covenant with him. As confirmation of His promise to give Abram a child, God told him He was changing his name to Abraham, which means “father of many.” Even then, Abraham doubted that God could do what He said He would do. Just read his response when the Lord reaffirmed His promise:

Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. “How could I become a father at the age of 100?” he thought. “And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?” (Genesis 17:17)

Too often you and I are like Abraham. We are the classic carriers of doubt. All of us, at some time or another, discount God’s promises and power. And much to the chagrin of our Father, we often forget the times He has been faithful to us in the past.

Specifically, in my own life, I wanted the Lord to bless Tony and me with lots of children, and I especially wanted Him to give us a set of twins. Being a twin myself and coming from a large family, I often prayed for both of those blessings.

By the year 1999, after we had been married for seventeen years, Tony and I had three beautiful and wonderful children. But we still didn’t have the set of twins for which I had been praying. I had quite a few years left before I caught up with Sarah, but I wasn’t sure I had that kind of patience in me. I was happy but not confident my prayers had been truly answered. My specific prayers for twins had definitely not been answered.

Little did I know that God was not finished. Through the blessing of adoption, God gave us six more children during the next twelve years—still no twins (which was probably a relief to Tony)—but we definitely have a wonderfully large family.

And who knows? Maybe God has more in store for us. Tony is worried that, like Abraham, we might bring home another child when he is one hundred years old.

I’ll keep praying. (Maybe the twins are on the way?) One thing I know for sure: God’s timing is always perfect!

Adventure Application: What is it that you have been seeking? What is it that you have been praying for? Lay it before the Lord again today, but be open to His timing and His answer—it may be different from what you expect.