Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said.

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.

Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac [meaning “he laughs”].

Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac as God had commanded him.

Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.

“Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:1-7

 God took note of Sarah – as He had said.

When I think about the promise and birth of Isaac, I usually think about Abraham, God’s promises to him of immense heritage, the interaction between God and Abraham, the sacrifice of Isaac, and the lineage.

I forget about Sarah.

God did not.

God took note of Sarah, as He had said he would.

This passage is all about Sarah. This is a Sarah story.

I love how the whole story is about both Abraham and Sarah. In fact, isn’t that really the point? Will God’s promise be fulfilled through Lot, Abraham’s nephew? No! Would Abram’s servant Eliezer of Damascus be the heir? No! Would the promise be through the Hagar/Ismael counterfeit – No! Allow Sarah to be with Pharaoh? No! Allow Sarah to be with Abimelech? No!

God’s plan, God’s promise, is very specific, very exact. Yes Abraham will have an heir. But that is not all. The heir will come from Sarah. The heir will come from the two of them, and only the two of them. No one else.

“At the appointed time.” At a late date, by some standards. It’s not only Abraham that is old. Sarah is too. The advanced age of Sarah and Abraham accentuates God’s divine intervention. The “appointed” time is the anointed time, right on time.

God’s taking note of Sarah in her old age foreshadows him taking note of a woman in her young age some 2,000 years later, who would bear the Messiah, descended from the one promised to Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was not too old. Mary was not too young. Neither Sarah’s marriage to a centenarian, nor Mary’s premarital state, were a bar to God’s fulfillment of His promises in and through them.

Sarah laughed at the prospect. Now she laughs with joy at the fulfillment.

She nurses. This is the activity of a young women, not a 90 year old.

This whole scene is so upside down. And full of life.

And so complete. Abraham and Sarah rejoice together.

In spite of their best efforts to short circuit God’s plan, with Sarah offering Hagar, and Abraham offering Sarah to Pharaoh and Abimelech.

God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah trump not only their old age, not only their doubts, but also their deliberate actions to interfere. Not doubt, not human error and intervention, not time, not age can overcome God’s promises and His fulfillment of them.

God has a plan, a purpose, a promise for the ages, ultimately to bring the Messiah through this very promised seed. And yet, in the midst of this grand, epic, cosmic, divine power – “The LORD took note of Sarah.”

“God did for Sarah as he had promised.”

God promised. Abraham doubted. Sarah laughed. God remembered. And God did what he promised. To Sarah.

God is personal. He cares about every detail, and especially, every person. The Good Shepherd never moves faster than the slowest sheep. None get left behind, not one out of 99. Isaiah wrote that He will gently lead the nursing ewes. In God’s economy, the grand objective never trumps the slightest needs of the most inconspicuous individual. And the needs of an individual do not thwart God’s plan. He does it all.

There is beauty and tenderness in God’s intentionality not to forget Sarah, not to leave her out or leave her behind. Abraham and Sarah are a team, a couple. God’s promise is to them together.

I think about my own journey, our journey, with my bride. God’s faithfulness and promises have been to lead and bless us together, never one getting ahead of the other, never one without the other.

God took note of Sarah. And performed His promises to Sarah, to Abraham, and to humanity.

God took note of Sarah – in her old age, in Abraham’s old age.

God took note of Sarah – and she laughs with joy.

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