There I sat, sixteen years old and dressed in an 1800s era costume, eating lunch at Wendy’s with a group of high school classmates on a school day. I wondered what the other customers were thinking when a middle-aged man approached our table. With a friendly smile he asked us about our clothing. After we explained that we were competing in a mock trial competition later that day, he wished us luck and asked, “Can I give you this Bible?” None of us were Christians. But being proper Midwesterners, we said ”Sure,” and then snickered to each other as he walked away. When no one in the group claimed it, I asked if I could have the Bible. My plan was to put it in the glove compartment of my car thinking it would keep me safe while I was driving.
That little blue Bible stayed in my glove compartment for several months before it made its way into my house. Then, I actually began to read it. It was in the pages of that little blue Bible—the Gospel of John specifically—where I met the man named Jesus for the first time. My unknowing teenage self thought that little blue Bible had the power to save me, and it turned out that she didn’t know how right she was.
The God of that little blue Bible has a long history of showing up in bigger ways than you or I expect. When we find ourselves wondering where God is, it’s often our thinking that’s too small. And why shouldn’t it be? We’re small creatures, finite and mortal. We’re bound by the limitations of humanity and marred by the effects of sin. The problem is not that we’re thinking like humans (that’s all we are capable of after all!), it’s that we think God is too.
But he’s not. God isn’t thinking like a human, because while he became human, he is, in his very essence, something entirely different. To put it more simply, God isn’t like us. And therefore, he doesn’t think like us. We get to become like Jesus in many ways, but God is other than us in every way. And he is perpetually up to “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
When we find ourselves wondering where God is, it can be helpful to remember three ways God is different from us: First, God is not stained by sin. Second, God is not bound by time. And third, God is not limited in power. We see these three examples play out in Genesis 12-21 through the life of Sarah.
Sarah was married to a man named Abraham, whom God chose to become the patriarch of the Israelites, his chosen people. From the very beginning, God promised to make him into a “great nation” (Genesis 12:2), whose offspring would be “like the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16) and unable to be counted. In other words, they were going to have kids and grandkids and great grandkids and so on. But there was a problem. Abraham and Sarah were already in their mid-70s and had yet to bear any children.1
Ten years and zero sons later,2 Sarah became impatient. It doesn’t require a decade of trying to get pregnant to sympathize with how Sarah might’ve felt. I can’t think of a single woman I know whose journey to motherhood has looked exactly how she expected, let alone one whose path has been pain-free. Like so many women before and after her, Sarah might’ve wondered where God was in this plan for her family.
But instead of trusting the one who made the plan to begin with, she decided to take matters into her own hands. In her desperation to see God’s promise come to fruition, Sarah forced her slave, Hagar, to have a child with Abraham in her place.3 Rather than giving Sarah the satisfaction she’d hoped for, the conception of this child brought pain to everyone who was involved. Sarah’s desperation was understandable, but her ambition was corrupted by sin.
“But God . . .” (Genesis 17:19). Two of the most hopeful words in the Scriptures. Sarah’s plan didn’t reflect the Lord’s intention for her or for Hagar, but God is able to turn evil plans into good.4 After Hagar and her unborn child were driven away to die because of Sarah’s jealousy, God sought her, and he saw her. The God Who Sees5 spoke life to her and promised her many offspring, though they wouldn’t have it easy.6 Our sin has consequences, both to us and to other people. But even in the thick of those consequences, God still sees us, cares for us, and works all things for our ultimate good.7 God’s plan is always good because he is unstained by sin.
God is also not bound by time. Ten years is a long time to wait for a child, but it was actually 25 years from God’s first promise to the birth of Sarah’s first son, Isaac. 25 years! It was so long that Sarah laughed out loud when she heard the angel of the Lord tell her husband the news.8 By human standards, Sarah’s biological clock had run out, but the Lord was up to something bigger than biology.
Now I’m someone who loves efficiency. I’m a maximize-an-hour, most-bang-for-my-buck, shortest-route-from-A-to-B kinda girl. I love to make the most of my limited time, but that’s not a concern for the Lord. He created time,9 which means he exists outside of it. He has all the time in the world—literally.
The Lord is not concerned with efficiency, but humans are. This can leave us confused and frustrated by his timing. We might wonder where God is. Does he not see me? Is he dragging his feet? Does he even care? Even the psalmist cries out in despair, “Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Don’t reject us forever!” (Psalm 44:23).
Where we might find inefficiency, the Lord creates opportunity. Where we’re worried about missing out, God sees and knows all things. Where we’re impatient in waiting, God knows we can only handle so much information at a time. Who hasn’t come home from the grocery store only to realize they forgot something they needed? If our limited and overloaded minds can’t even retain the shopping list, why would we presume to know better than the creator of time? God is not asleep at the wheel—he is up to something more than we can see.
Even so, if God was unstained by sin, unbound by time, but weak in power, Christians would be a people to be most pitied.10 Picture a political leader who has an important sounding title but no real power over the government—a king or queen in a country whose parliament makes all of the legal decisions. The monarch might be righteous and unhurried, but everyone knows they are merely a figurehead. The term “figurehead” is borrowed from the carved statue on the front of a ship—though beautiful, the sculpture has no ability to actually turn the vessel. But that is not our God—our God is unlimited in power. And Abraham and Sarah got to experience that in a very tangible way.
The author of Hebrews says Sarah was “past the age [of childbearing]” and Abraham was “as good as dead” (Hebrews 11:11-12) by the time Isaac was born. Sarah was ninety-nine years old and Abraham one hundred. They had been married without kids for decades. There was no biological reason they should have birthed a child, and yet God “came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised” (Genesis 21:1). The author of Hebrews recounts that “by faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring” (Hebrews 11:11). Whose power did she receive? God’s!
It’s so easy to read stories from Scripture that we’ve heard repeatedly and gloss over their miraculous nature. Think of something important you want in your life right now—something that seems impossible by human standards: physical healing after the diagnosis of a disease; the salvation of a loved one who is adamantly opposed to Jesus; overcoming an addiction you’ve struggled with for years; the reconciliation of your marriage after infidelity. Whatever you’re thinking of, it probably feels impossible. That’s likely because it is impossible if it’s left up to you! But with God, “all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
That’s not to say God will do your impossible thing, but only that he can do it. God is not limited in his power. He created all things, and all things were created for him.11 The rocks cry out12 and the seas obey his voice.13 He commands kings and he dethrones rulers.14 He breathes life where none exists,15 and he raises people from the dead.16 He “saves the lame and gathers the outcasts” (Zephaniah 3:19). He speaks through the ineloquent17 and triumphs through the unassuming.18 As King David prayed,
“Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to you. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom, and you are exalted over all. Riches and honor come from you, and you are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is in your hand to make great and give strength to all.”
1 Chronicles 29:11-12
While Sarah’s hope was to bring forth a son, God’s plan was to bring forth his Son. Through the birth of Isaac, Abraham would indeed become a father of nations. These nations wouldn’t only be joined by a bloodline but by the blood of the lamb, Jesus, who would be unstained by sin, unbound by time, and unlimited in power. Sarah might’ve wondered where God was—he was present, active, and up to more than she could fathom.
Nearly twenty years after that lunch at Wendy’s, my tire blew while I was driving on the highway. I lost control of my car as it spun 180 degrees into the adjacent two lanes of traffic. A semi-truck barreled directly toward me as I sat in the driver’s seat, unable to stop it. Alone in my car (thankfully), I instinctively closed my eyes and thought of my husband and kids. Panic and sadness washed over me as I realized that my kids were about to lose their mom, and my whole body tensed as I braced for the impact. Once my car slid to a stop against the concrete median, I opened my eyes in disbelief. Miraculously, a sedan had hit me rather than the semi, and both the other driver and I walked away essentially unscathed.
The first responders initially drove past us because the 911 calls they received reported a head on collision with multiple vehicles involved, and they were expecting a much graver scene. “But God . . .” (Genesis 17:19). There was no little blue Bible in my glove compartment that day, but there is no question that the God I met through that little blue Bible was ever present and near. And he’s eternally up to more than what you and I could possibly imagine.
In what ways is God not moving in your life in the way you would’ve hoped? Are there elements of your story where you find him moving too slow, or your heart wants to echo the psalmist and cry out, “Wake up, Lord!” (Psalm 44:23)? Remember who God is: unstained by sin, unbound by time, unlimited in power, and “pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus], and through him to reconcile everything to himself . . . by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20). In the coming weeks, consider reading Sarah’s story in Genesis 12-21. Reflect on the ways that God is at work in her story and in yours, even when he doesn’t show up like you’d expect.
Footnotes:
1 Genesis 12:4, 15:2-3
2 Genesis 12:4, 16:16
3 Genesis 16:2
4 Genesis 50:20
5 Genesis 16:13
6 Genesis 16:12
7 Romans 8:28
8 Genesis 18:12
9 Genesis 1:5
10 Phrase borrowed from Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:19
11 Colossians 1:16
12 Luke 19:40
13 Mark 4:39
14 Daniel 2:21
15 Genesis 2:7
16 Mark 5:41
17 Exodus 4:10-12
18 Judges 4:1-24
Photo Credit: Lydia Supinger
Kelly is a follower of Jesus, wife to Scott, mom of 5, keeper of plants, and lover of both stories and spreadsheets. She leads women’s discipleship at her local church in Hamilton, Ohio alongside some of her favorite people. Kelly’s natural curiosity makes her an eager learner, and she’s passionate about sharing the truth of the Scriptures with others. When she’s not working, studying biblical Hebrew, or volunteering for her kids’ school, you can probably find Kelly eating chips and watching reruns of Frasier.
