Scripture
26But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27As Isaiah said,“Rejoice, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor!For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband!” 28And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac.” Galatians 4:26-28
Observation
Paul is bringing us back to the comparison of Hagar and Sarah to illustrate the difference between being a slave to the law or a child of promise. There’s another layer to this. When he refers to the joy that will mark everyone who has entered the freedom of Christ he is most likely drawing our attention back to the original promise between Abraham and Jesus. Sarah and her husband were very old and had nothing but a promise that they would be the parents of nations. They had waited so long and seen nothing that she become cynical towards the Lord. So much so that when He said they would have a child she laughed at Jesus. "13Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me have a baby?’ 14Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 15Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.” But the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.” (Gen 18:13-15) 9 months later she held her son of promise in her hands and named him Isaac which means laughter. “5Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.6And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. 7Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!” (Gen. 21:5-7). Notice that her cynicism has been replaced by sincere joy. This joy is contagious. Everyone who hears about this will be filled with joy too even as they wait for their own promise from God to be birthed in their lives.
Application
For many of us cynicism is probably the default position. We have grown so tired of waiting for the promises of God to be birthed that we are laughing at God instead of laughing with Him. The joy of our salvation gets traded for a jaded outlook best described as soul sickness. We have a distrust of God’s motives and therefore we turn to that which we can control or can seemingly promise a predictable outcome. That’s what happened in Galatia when they traded the free promise of the salvation of Jesus for the rules and laws of religious tradition. Like Abraham and Hagar we have grown tired of waiting for God to come through with that healing, that provision, that reconciliation, that breakthrough that He promised us. So, we laugh at God and settle for a facsimile or lesser version that we can produce for ourselves. So, how to do we move back to joy? Surrender is the path out of cynicism. We open our hands and our hearts and repeat to our souls the question Jesus asked Sarah- “Is there anything too hard for the Lord?”
Prayer
When You look at me You smile. I can see Your love for me. Lord, I must repent this morning for the hardness of heart that has formed around certain promises. Like the rain that can’t penetrate the hard ground to bring seeds to fruitfulness, cynicism keeps the fresh hope from going deep. Jesus, if You have said You will do it. I don’t know how. I don’t know when. I refuse to keep my distance behind the armor of cynicism and I open up to You again! Let the joy of my salvation be restored! You are the source of all I need and I refuse to settle for less than what You are going to bring in Your timing!
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