God’s Reminders
“Sarah laughed to herself saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”” Genesis 18:12
God’s Reminders
Laugh – God changes Jacob’s name. The new name, Israel, is a reminder of an encounter with the Holy One. But Jacob wasn’t the first. Years before, Jacob’s grandmother received a name reminder. Jacob’s father, Isaac, was a constant reminder to Sarah that she did not believe the word of the Holy One. The name Isaac is a variation of the Hebrew word for “laugh”. The verb is tsa-hak forms the basis of Yitsa-ack which we translate as “Isaac”. For the rest of her life, Sarah was reminded of her disobedient mistrust every time she heard her son’s name.
Would you complain? Would you say, “Wait a minute! This isn’t fair. Why should I have to be reminded of my sin every day? Why must my disbelief be memorialized in the name of my child?”
There’s another part to the story, of course. The name Isaac is also a reminder that in spite of Sarah’s disbelief, God was faithful to His promise. The laughing child is also a reflection of God’s laughter at the puny faith of men and women. Nothing is too difficult for Him, even getting pregnant at 90. Sarah could see her son and laugh at how foolish she was not to take God at His word. The proof of His blessing was laughing right in front of her.
God often gives us two-sided lessons. If we look at the side that reminds us of our failure and sin, we will be thrust along a path of discouragement. But the same reminder that we failed is a proclamation that God did not fail. He came to our rescue in spite of our failure. By turning the reminder over, we see a side that pushes us along the road of hope. It is not hope in our faithfulness but in His faithfulness.
Are there reminders in your life of past failures and sins? Have you seen only one side of the story? If you are willing to look, the other side will show you God’s goodness. You’ll hear Him laughing with joy that you discovered a blessing that was there all the time.
