Sarah Smile

Genesis 18:9-14

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.”

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Sara Smile
Won't you smile a while for me
Sara

"Sara Smile" by Hall and Oates

Sarah, what a wonderful woman. She is 90 years old, she has no children, menopause is a distant memory, and she overhears a man tell her husband Abraham that when he returns she will have a son. Sarah laughs.

Since she was hiding and eavesdropping, I assume her chuckle was on the quiet side. Because of the time and the place, I imagine she would have tried to be a bit more demure in her reaction too. I further imagine, in the 21st Century, any 90 year old woman who heard that might literally die laughing.

She laments, perhaps with a wry grin, that she is old and her husband is old too. How then shall she have the pleasure? Wince if you want, but the "pleasure" she's talking about is both sexual and the pleasure of a having a child.

Why do we laugh? Is it relief? If Sarah has a son she will be cared for in her old (older?) age. If she has a son the shame of her infertility will be swept away. Is it absurdity? Imagine your parents, or grand parents, or great grand parents--or even yourself if you are 90 years old and reading this devotional--"enjoying the pleasures of planting seeds in the garden." Do we laugh to get that image out of our heads? Does Sarah laugh because she can imagine no human way this would ever be possible? Honestly "all of the above" is an option.

Here's the truth. Nothing is too wonderful for the Lord. Nothing. So imagine what you will, imagine the impossible dreams life has shown and know that nothing is impossible for God. Even the pleasure. So Sara, won't you smile a while for me?