In Touch Devotional By Dr Charles Stanley

In Touch Devotional || 12th January 2024 || Laughing at the Impossible

In Touch Devotional || 12th January 2024 || Laughing at the Impossible

You are welcome to Today’s In Touch Daily Devotional written by Dr Charles Stanley and published by In Touch Ministry. Charles F. Stanley is the founder of In Touch Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author. He demonstrates a keen awareness of people’s needs and provides Christ-centered biblically-based principles for everyday life.

Today’s Topic: Laughing at the Impossible

God is able to do far more in your life than you can possibly imagine.

Scripture: Genesis 18:1-15

18 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

IN TOUCH DAILY DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE FOR JANUARY 12TH, 2024

Sarah was approaching age 90 when she overheard a mysterious visitor tell her husband that she’d give birth to her first child in a year’s time. Sarah thought she was alone and unseen when she laughed in disbelief, but God revealed to Abraham how she’d reacted (Gen. 18:13-15). Sarah tried denying it, but the exchange emphasizes that nothing—not even a weary laugh—is hidden from God.

In fact, it wasn’t the first time Sarah had heard this promise. God had previously told her nearly century-old husband that she would give birth and the boy’s name would be Isaac (Genesis 17:15-22). Abraham had fathered one child, Ishmael, with Sarah’s Egyptian maid Hagar. But now God was saying the son born to Sarah in her old age would be heir to an earlier promise: that Abraham would be the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:2-3).

Sarah’s disbelief did not disqualify her from receiving the miraculous blessing God promised—and which the mysterious visitor had described with such clarity. God’s plans were far greater than her very understandable doubts. And after Sarah’s lifetime of infertility, her pregnancy would drive home an important lesson: Our supernatural God isn’t limited by what we label as “impossible.”

Bible in One Year: Genesis 39-41