I love where I live because it is away from the lights of town.  The stars are brilliant and on clear, warm nights in the fall and spring I will make a bed in the back of our ATV and go park in the middle of the pasture and enjoy the night sky and the horses hanging over the side for a bit of attention and a treat.   I will look for the few constellations I know.   I can see the Milky Way;   I will see the occasional shooting star and marvel at God’s handiwork.  Scripture says in Psalm 147:4  “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” (Job 9:7-10, 38:31-32)   In fact, He has written His timeline in the stars.  (Matthew 2:1-2, Revelation 12:1-3)  Scripture is prolific with references to the stars reminding us in Romans 1:20-21, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse..”

The Patriarch of Israel, Abraham, was escorted outside on a brilliant clear evening by God Himself and told to look up at the heavens and then He made old Abraham a promise.  I say old Abraham because he is at least in his seventies!  We read in Genesis 6:3  that God has shortened the lifespan of man to one hundred twenty years because man is so evil.  Abraham’s wife, Sarah, is in her sixties and past her childbearing years.  They have been barren:  A curse in the ancient world, to have no son to carry on.  Abraham and Sarah have been in time out for a very long time.  In fact, they have no hope of ever getting out of this one.  Time has run out.  Or has it?  “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?  Jeremiah 32:27, Genesis 18:14   On this beautiful evening, God the Father promised to make Abraham a dad.

Sarah did not get pregnant the same night God told Abraham he would become the “father of nations,” (Genesis 15:5-6, 17:4) in fact, it was many years:  A lifetime for an octogenarians.  Much happens in a years that follow.   We get ahead of God.  We try to help God.  We get anxious and the enemy uses the time to instill doubt.  How can a couple this old become the “father and mother of nations?”  (Genesis 17:4, 16)  We fail to grasp that our “helping” God creates consequences that last for generations.

(This is the time line: Abram 70-80+/- years old & Sarai 60-70+/- years old______________86year old  Abraham –birth of Ishmael____________99 year old Abraham– Ishamel circumcised and God promised a son with Sarah__100 year old Abraham & 90 year old Sarah– Isaac born______102-103 year old Abraham– Isaac weaned and Ishmael/Hagar banished_______________Sarah 127 years old dies_________________________175year old Abraham dies.)  from Genesis 15-25

Waiting on God.  Who has mastered this?  The lesson here is about believing God and what He has revealed to us through His Holy Spirit.    It is in the believing we find God’s favor.  (Romans 4: 4-22)  Was the possibility of having a son really over for Abraham and Sarah if God was in the equation?  So, what makes me give up on God so quickly?  Why can I not wait upon the Lord?

“Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us.”  Psalm 123:2  (emphasis mine)

Recently, the Lord spoke very clearly to my heart.  Things are a-changin.  I vacillate between sheer panic and acting like Chicken Little and being hopeful and resting.  It is more of the former not the later, just sayin’.   Is my timeout coming to an end?   Often the Lord reveals to us what He is going to do and then we must wait and wait and wait and WAIT!

Isaiah 40:26-29 reminds us,
“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
   Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
   and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
   not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
   Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
   my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
   Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
   and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.”

There was a reason the Father took Abraham outside to do a bit of stargazing:  It was a reminder of who is in control and of His great love and concern for the desires of our hearts.  

Psalm 8:3-5
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,[b]
And You have crowned him with glory and honor


If the LORD has spoken to you and His Word has yet to be fulfilled, go outside and look up for The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.”  Psalm 19:1

The Father reminds us in His word,  “Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:12) and He is not slow in keeping His promises (II Peter 3:9)

When Life Gets Broken
Sandi Patty with Heather Payne