Tuesday, September 15, 2026

For the season when hope feels unsafe.

They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He said, “There, in the tent.” He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child when I am old?’ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”
Genesis 18:9–14

Sarah laughed inside the tent when the promise met an old body and years of disappointment. What does your laughter protect when another hopeful word reaches you? Is it joy, or a reflex that keeps fresh disappointment from touching you again?

Long disappointment can make cynicism feel like shelter. It lets you judge the promise before the promise can judge your defenses. The Lord did not shame Sarah into cheerful belief. He exposed the question beneath her laugh and refused to let age, delay, or bodily limits become her final verdict. The false refuge is control: if you mock hope first, hope cannot surprise you.

Christ does not ask you to manufacture Sarah’s joy. At the cross, he bears the guilt tangled through your guarded laughter. The risen Christ intercedes for you when trust is thin. The Lord can receive your defensive laughter without mistaking it for faith. Bring him the laugh you cannot defend, and let his question reach what you have declared impossible.

The Lord can receive your defensive laughter without mistaking it for faith.
Prayer

Lord Jesus, receive the laughter I use to protect myself. Forgive its unbelief, meet my disappointment at the cross, and keep me near your intercession. Amen.