Genesis 18:1-14 God really will keep his Son promise to you!

On July 20, 2026, you will eat broccoli. If someone told you that, there are many ways to respond. You might agree, disagree, ask how it would be prepared, express your disgust, share what you would rather have, etc. You might have a different plan from the one who told you that you will eat broccoli in one year, but if the person is someone you trust, you might believe it.

Flexibility is one of many buzzwords we hear all the time. Flexibility looks good on a job application or personality test. We also like it when our kids or spouse is flexible on vacation or when the only thing left in the pantry is broccoli. For all the hype around flexibility, most of us are less like a plastic straw and more like a metal tube. And there is a time and place for both a flexible plastic straw and a fixed metal tube, and in our Gospel reading from Luke 10, we read about a dinner party where the flavor profile was flexibility. It happened when Jesus came to the home of Martha, who became distracted by all the preparations for Jesus and his disciples, while her sister Mary sat listening to Jesus teach. Martha had a fixed idea in her mind about what needed to be done, and her lack of flexibility lead her to come and ask Jesus, 40… “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Martha had in mind serving her Lord, a beautiful expression of faith, but this visit was meant to be a time for listening. Jesus had come to give Martha and Mary his words of promise that the Savior had come.

Jesus was able to speak to Martha and Mary because God kept a promise about two thousand years earlier. In our Old Testament reading from Genesis 18, God appeared once again to Abraham and his wife Sarah to repeat his promise that they would have a baby boy. At this time, Abraham was 99 years old, and Sarah was 89. They were well past the days of diapers, bottles and a Boppy. Yet, God had told them over two decades before that they would be the parents of a great nation. Now, God appeared to reaffirm his promise. In Genesis 17, God spoke only to Abraham saying this about his wife Sarah, 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Sarah would be the mother of the promised child. Earlier, Sarah had grown impatient waiting and gave Abraham her maidservant to be another wife to produce an heir for them. Her maidservant Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael, but he was not the son of the promise. In Genesis 18, the LORD along with two angels took the form of men and visited Abraham and Sarah. They prepared a massive feast for their guests, and as they sat eating with Abraham, they asked, 9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” … “There, in the tent,” he said. 10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah was listening from the tent behind them and hearing the promise of a son repeated, we read, 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” God knew Sarah’s heart. Despite her being in the tent behind him, the LORD knew what she was thinking, feeling and struggling with; her emotional, physical and spiritual state were no mystery to God.

Sarah was jaded. She was a senior citizen; she had given up hope of a child. Plus, the Hagar incident had not gone well. Sarah had a fixed picture in her mind of what she wanted rather than embracing the flexibility of faith in God’s timing. She had a small picture of what she needed and wanted to happen in her life. She lost sight of the big picture by not listening to God. She listened to her own heart rather than going back to the promise of God. She was promised motherhood of nations and kings, but she laughed in doubt that the LORD who made the heavens and the earth, who saved Noah’s family from the Flood and confused the languages of the nations at Babel could give her a son. She lacked gratitude for God choosing them out of his love to carry the promise of the Savior.

When our plans do not come true, our trust in God is put to the test. We all make plans, and even not having a plan is a plan. And when our plans must change due to things beyond our control, most of us need to open our laptops and apps, move the cursor to the end of the word ‘flexible’ and press the ‘delete’ button. We all have plans that we can be flexible on, but we also have deep desires that we have cemented in our hearts. It may be the desire to have a child, or it may be the perpetual need to be prepared. And we can have plans and desires, but when we have fixated on them without cross referencing them with Scripture and they do not happen, it breaks us. Sarah had been given a special, specific promise from the LORD’s own mouth, but she laughed it off. We are guilty of the same jaded, doubting reaction to God when we hear Scripture and ignore it. The Bible sits ready to speak to us about God’s will for our lives, and all we have been given in Jesus, but we muse all day and into the night about our own plans. We get into this jaded state when our plans do not come true because we have become gods who think we have it all figured out, but then our little universe bubble pops leaving us with the empty dark vacuum of space. When we are broken by our failed plans it happens because we first did not hold onto God’s promise.

Regardless of our doubt, God made a promise. God promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a son a year from his visit to them with two angels. His promise did not depend on their plans, thoughts or opinions. And, a year later, they were blessed with their son, Isaac, which means laughter. And we see that Sarah’s heart was changed later in Genesis 21, 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And the joy of Isaac reaches us because 2,000 years later, Jesus was born from Isaac’s line. It is for his sake, not ours that God keeps his promises, his good, gracious, overwhelming promises to forgive, save, love, provide, give purpose, belonging, peace. All of this through his Son, Jesus. When we were as good as dead in our doubts and sin, God saved us. God’s plans for us are better than what comes from our own hearts; he sees the big picture and fit us into it. In our New Testament reading from Colossians 1, Paul prayed for the believers to live a life worthy of the Lord. He prayed with confidence because of what God has done for them, made them and called them to be according to verse 13, For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We have also been rescued, redeemed and forgiven. Regardless of our failed plans or doubts, God kept his Son promise to you; Jesus blessed all nations with the forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life through his perfect life, innocent death and glorious resurrection.

Trust in God allows us to face disappointment when our plans are not met. God brought us into his greater plan of salvation. So, you may or may not have needed that thing at the time and place you thought you needed it to have a fulfilling life. Faith in God keeps us flexible. We all need God. And you have him because he has you. We yield all our plans to the gracious will of God. When you take your plans to Scripture, it guides you. Being in the Word of God will change your plans. And being in the Word of God helps you realize life goes on when your plans do not come true. When you plan and pray for God’s will to be done, your life will be more fulfilling. I am not able to tell you whether your plans for school, sports, a spouse, job, kids, retirement, etc. will happen, but when you read, hear and meditate on the promises God has kept for you in Jesus, I am confident that God will give you laughter, even through tears because the joy of heaven is yours through Jesus. Our trust in God is not based on our plans working out. Our trust in God is based on his promises already worked out for us through Jesus, and what great promises they are.

On July 20, 2026, you will eat broccoli. If the person who told you that is someone you trust, you might believe it. Sarah was 89 years old when God reminded her of his promise to give her a baby boy in one year. Sarah’s plans for her life were not coming together like she planned, but God had plans for the lives of all people that would be affected by the child Sarah carried. Jesus, descended from Sarah and Abraham’s son, save them from hopeless, unfulfilled, selfish, scared, sinful plans that lead to death. Jesus blessed all nations with the forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life. When our plans are not, we keep our trust in God because he really will keep his Son promise to you. Amen.

Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church