Breathtaking Faithfulness

"Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said,  and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, 

at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him."

Genesis 21:1-2 

When Abraham was 75 years old, the Lord promised he would give him an heir through his barren wife, Sarah. Twenty-five years passed before the promise was fulfilled. When we read the account of those 25 years, we find that Abraham and Sarah did not calmly wait on God. They seemed intent to "help God along"  and the result of their impatience was disastrous (Genesis 16).  However, God graciously "took note of Sarah" and she conceived and gave birth to Isaac. God did "as He had said", "as He had promised", "at the appointed time", "which God had spoken". The "appointed time" was God's appointed time, not Abraham and Sarah's. And even though the couple failed to trust God, He kept His promise to them. The Lord's faithfulness is breathtaking.