By Kathi Pelton
There are seasons in life that challenge the hope that we have. These seasons look like contradictions to all that we believe and have hoped for. As humans, we like answers… and we like quick answers even more.
When the Lord speaks a prophetic promise over our lives we get excited and our hope soars. Then a month passes by and if a quick fulfillment of the promise has not come we begin to get a little discouraged— but still we hope. Then if a year goes by without fulfillment we have to remind ourselves to hope and believe. But what if a decade or even longer goes by and that prophetic promise seems further away than the day it was given? Now we grapple in our souls with doubt, unbelief, skepticism and weariness.
You may still believe in his eternal faithfulness but often you have become barren of belief in the earthly promise that was received.
I have painfully watched people that I love go through these kinds of things and it reminds me of what Abraham and Sarah must have felt and experienced. Yet, they are listed among the heroes of faith. How can doubt and unbelief coexist with being counted as a hero of faith?
Sarah was found to have laughed when late in life (far beyond the time when a woman could carry a child in her womb) it was told that she would have a son by the next year (Genesis 18:13-15). Hebrews 11 says this about Sarah,
“And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.”
Hebrews 11:11
She considered him (God) faithful who had made the promise! When she received the prophetic promise she believed it because she believed in the faithfulness of God.
That moment was the eternal memorialized statement of faith that Sarah would be remembered by.
It was tested against time and the frailty of human understanding. Over time she doubted, she lost hope and she even laughed when it was prophesied again so many years later— and now into a physical womb that had dried up. But God remembered her initial belief in his faithfulness as if she had never wavered.
This says to me, “God understands our frailty. He is compassionate toward our humanity. He is patient with our limited understanding. And he credits us with our core belief and statement of his faithfulness even before it’s been tested.”
Sarah’s hope was in the Lord. Her soul and her body could not stop the Lord’s faithfulness.
Yesterday the words from Isaiah 40 were constantly in my head. Especially the part that says,
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
I can only believe that Sarah’s eternal hope in the Lord remained her foundational truth. Maybe her hope for a child had departed but her hope in the Lord and his faithfulness was still solid. And yet— her hope in his promise of a child was about to be strengthened with fulfillment. Her youth was about to be renewed (she’d need that!).
Some of you have kept your core belief of “hoping in the Lord” even though you have lost the hope that some of the promises that you carried long ago would come to pass. Like Sarah, your foundation of believing in his faithfulness— even amid contradictions— is counted unto you and you are in his eyes, a hero of faith!
Isaiah 40 is a chapter of comfort to Israel and his chosen people (which is you— for you have been grafted in). It is about how when all has been lost that God is still faithful and you can put your hope in him. It is filled with words of comfort and hope that will strengthen you and renew you.
“Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.” Isaiah 40:28-31
Even when you do not understand— he understands what you are not able to. Even when it seems that your faith has fainted or failed— he does not grow weary. His faithfulness has not wavered or changed— only your human understanding has reached your carnal capacity.
But then suddenly— he comes upon the scene once again, at a time when your wombs no longer can carry a promise, and says, “At this time next year you will hold the promise in your arms.” Like Sarah, you may be tempted in your soul to laugh— for you have heard that before and now it appears that it’s too late— too impossible! Yet, that is exactly what happened. When all human strength and belief was lost— God still came through.
The hope in the Lord’s faithfulness that Sarah had in her youth was the foundation and guarantee of his fulfillment.
So— the hope that you have had in the Lord is remembered and will strengthen you once again. You may have lost hope in the answer to a particular promise but now is the time to allow your heart and soul to be strengthened by renewing your hope in the Lord (for he is our eternal hope). This time next year you may just be holding the fulfillment of your promise.
We believe because he who promised is faithful!
CashApp: $kathipelton
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Thank you to all who have been carrying Kathi in prayer as she faced three unexpected surgeries and five weeks of physical pain and challenges. She is home recovering and taking small steps forward to regain her strength. Your prayers and ongoing support has meant so much to us. We have thanked the Lord for each of you who have given and prayed for abundant blessings to be poured out upon you!
Oceans in the Desert 
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