Impossible Hope

For anyone who has ever found themselves in a season of waiting, there is no story as encouraging as Abraham.

At age 75, he was told by the LORD that he would be made into “a great nation” (Gen 12:2), and that his offspring would possess a special land that God has set apart just for them (v.7), even though he had zero offspring at the time.

We don’t know how much time passed before God spoke again, but a few chapters of narrative later, God promises that Abraham (back when he was still called “Abram”) would have a son of his own (15:4), and that his descendants would be more numerous than the uncountable stars in the sky (v.5).  While the childless man stared up at the infinite lights spotting the heavens, God tells him, “So shall your offspring be,” (ibid).

What happens next is that, plainly, Abraham screws up.  His wife, tired of waiting for this promise to be fulfilled through her, gives her maidservant Hagar to Abraham to sleep with, so that Hagar might conceive and give her child to Sarah to raise as her own son (Gen 16:1-2).  Abraham feels that this is a good idea.

Hagar conceives, and the birth of the son-who-is-not-really-a-real-son causes so much tension in the household that Hagar eventually flees with her son, Ishmael (v.6-7), although they would later return.  When Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86.  Eleven years had passed since the original promise had been given.

After Ishmael was born, thirteen years would pass before God shows up to Abraham once again.  He brings a point of clarification, telling Abraham that Sarah will actually give birth herself, and this son will be the one that was promised (Gen 17:19).  Apparently Abraham needed to be corrected that when God said a son was coming, He didn’t mean with the maid.

The man of God has been waiting 24 years at this point for God’s word to come to fruition in his life.  And what he is now waiting for is not just unlikely; it is downright impossible.  Abraham is ancient, nearly a century old at this point.  When told this news by God, Abraham “laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (17:17).  The sun has long-since set on their child-bearing capabilities.  Decades have passed since menopause, and this couple is facing the end of their lives.  Babies are not produced by couples like this.

But God couldn’t care less about what biology would have to say on this matter.  Sarah conceives, and gives birth to a son (Gen 21:2).  No maid required.  And in her great joy, she gave him the name Isaac, which means “he laughs”, saying “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me,” (v.6).  Years of waiting, praying, crying, and hoping had paid off.  God had done what He said He would do.

However long you have been waiting for God’s word to be fulfilled in your life, and however impossible that promise might seem, you are not a 100-year-old man waiting for his 90-year-old wife to get pregnant.  Abraham waited 25 years for his promise to be fulfilled.  In the meantime, he tried to fulfill it himself, through natural means with Hagar, and he also had moments of doubt along the way through his trial.  Scripture certainly does not encourage these actions, but it is encouraging to know that Abraham had rough days, made a terrible choice, and yet still God managed to bring him around into his purpose.

And through Abraham, we learn one of the greatest lessons of all of the heroes of Scripture.

The Word tells us, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Rom 4:18).

How powerful is that?

When there was no hope, what did Abraham do?

He hoped.

When there was absolutely no earthly possibility for a baby, when science and common sense were stacked against him, when there was absolutely no reason to expect that the promise if God would possibly be fulfilled, Abraham hoped nonetheless.  He found a way to hope for what was coming.

This was not a statement of denial on his behalf.  He wasn’t saying, “I’m young at heart and my body is going to be just fine for baby-making!”  Scripture says that “he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead,” (v.19). He fully acknowledged the gravity and reality of his situation.

He just chose to acknowledge a higher power more.

Abraham knew that the Creator of the universe was not to be limited by what his earthly eyes could see.  Words like “too old” and “dead womb” are meaningless to the One for whom nothing is impossible.

Abraham held onto hope in his God, “being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (v.21).  This is, as mentioned, not to say that he didn’t have moments of doubt.  Even Jesus had those (Mt 26:36-42).  But he clung to the promise, through 25 years of ups and downs, and did not fall away from the trust that God would do what He said He would.

Because of this, not only did he get his son that he had waited and prayed for, but he also got the title of “the father of all who believe” (4:11). He is our great example of faith and hope, and one of our greatest stories of promise fulfilled.

It is his hope that got him through the day.  Even when all hope was exhausted, Abraham chose to find hope nonetheless.  Hope kept his spirits up, his heart light, and his thoughts focused on God.  That hope – that confident expectation of fulfillment – was what got him through his trial.  It will get us through ours, as well.

So often for us, hope becomes a lack-of-faith word, rather than an encouraging one.  “I sure hope so,” we say, when things are looking bad.  “I hope things work out,” when it doesn’t look like they will.  “I hope that couple makes it,” when it looks obvious that they won’t.  Hope really becomes a word of doubt rather than of faith.

But Scripture calls our hope in God “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Heb 6:19).  God’s hope comforts us, keeps us stable, and gets us through the day.  For all who believe, there is a knowledge that God is in control, that He does not make mistakes, and that He loves us.  Hope brings us to life.

Faith and hope need to partner together to get us through our tough times.  Faith is our trust that God’s word is true; hope is our expectation that it will come to pass.  We can have faith without hope, where we believe that something can happen but don’t really anticipate that it will.  Faith is the solid road that we are travelling down in this life, but hope is the gas that fuels the car and keeps us moving forward.

Faith says, “I believe that God can.”  Hope says, “I am confident that He will.”

Even Job, in the midst of the most terrible pain one can imagine, did not lose his expectation that God would work things out.  Not knowing exactly what was going on, Job raised his voice and made this declaration about His God:

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him,” (Job 13:15).

And there it is.  God wasn’t slaying him, but Job’s heart is made so clear in this moment.  So solid and unshakable is his determination that, even in the middle of his brokenness, he tells God that even if He were to kill him, Job would not be shaken from that hope.  That confident expectation that the LORD is good, and would do good always.

Hope does not dwell in the moment, or even the next few moments, but looks down the road to fulfilment.  Hope plants the seed, nurtures the shoot, and waits for the harvest.  Hope doesn’t cry when things do not immediately come to pass, but instead hope waits patiently, knowing that seed that is sown must be reaped at the right moment.  Hope looks down the road to the day that prayers get answered, and looks up to Heaven, and says, “It is well with my soul.  I know that my God will hear me.”

Scripture calls our Lord “the God of hope,” (Rom 15:13).  And as we put our hope in Him, we will find the strength to get through the day.  Hope is the great encourager.  We must grab it, fight for it, and cling to it, refusing to let it go.  It is what we need more than anything else.