Faith Receives Power for the Impossible From God (Hebrews 11:11–12)

"By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." (Hebrews 11:11–12, ESV).

"Sarah herself received power to conceive." It is an exhilarating statement. In her old age, Abraham's wife received God's power for the impossible by faith. She came to trust God, and that reliance upon the omnipotent God yield her the child of promise. God had told Abraham and Sarah they'd have a child together. They could cling to the word of God on this one. She didn't have a mere hope her infertility would pass. God had said, specifically, that she'd have a child. She believed it. And God's power was released upon her mortal flesh. Isaac was born.

But how did Sarah's faith operate?

1. Despite Human Limitations

First, her faith received power for the impossible despite her own human limitations. She was 65 when God gave the promise, and 90 when it was fulfilled. Those aren't standard child-bearing years. Those are kick-your-feet-up-and-retire years. Sarah was not oblivious to these facts. She knew she was too old to have a child. It says she received this power "even when she was past the age." And her husband? He was "as good as dead."

Faith, you see, does not obligate you to set aside the facts. You do not have to forget your limitations. Sarah knew hers. She knew Abraham's. Her faith was not in herself but in God. In an age that loves to tell us how powerful we are, Sarah's faith is refreshing, for her power didn't lie within. She could not think positive thoughts, refuse to take no for an answer, and will herself towards a breakthrough. The girl had nothin' to offer. Yet she trusted in the Lord.

God loves to bring us to that place of beautiful dependence upon Him. He loves for us to, despite and because of our limitations, turn to Him. Paul, when Jesus told him he wouldn't be healed, wondered why. Jesus said, "My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Paul's response was beautiful: "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10). His weakness was his greatest strength because it was in his limitations the power of Christ was manifested.

Do you recall Jesus' feeding of the 5,000? As the crowds swelled around Christ, the disciples panicked, not knowing how everyone would eat out in the Galilean wilderness. Jesus, sensing their stress, pulled up alongside Philip and privately asked, "Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?" To the entire group of disciples, Jesus said, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat." Why did Jesus speak to them in this way?

John gives us some insight: "He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do" (John 6:6). Their response is also helpful: "We have only five loaves here and two fish" (Matthew 14:17). It seems Jesus wanted his disciples to come face-to-face with their own limitations, for it was then the power fo Christ would rest upon the situation.

2. When Considering God's Faithfulness

Second, her faith received power for the impossible when she considered God's faithfulness. You see, with Sarah, we should note how it took time for her to share the same conviction as her husband. She did not initially believe and trust in God's promise or word. She, like many of us, stuttered to believe in God's ability.

This unbelief manifested itself in two main episodes. In the first, Sarah noticed her aging body and concocted a plan for Abraham to impregnate their servant. The younger woman, Hagar, would serve as a surrogate. And, though a son was born through this method, God rejected Abraham and Sarah's plan. Ishmael, the son through Hagar, ended up living a blessed life but was not the promised seed.

In the second episode, God appeared to Abraham to reaffirm the promise of a child through Sarah. He said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son." Sarah listened at the door of the tent. When she heard the promise, she laughed to herself; she knew she was much too old to bear any children. Both of these episodes highlight the difficulty Sarah had in believing God.

But in the second episode, God confronted Sarah. He said, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son" (Genesis 18:13-14). It says, in our Hebrews passage, Sarah "considered him faithful who had promised." I think the question the Lord asked -- "is anything too hard for the Lord?" -- messed with her. As she considered the question, it questioned her, and soon she came to believe God was faithful to fulfill his promise.

One thing we must notice here is how Sarah wrestled with the Lord through the years but eventually concluded God is faithful. You see, we often think of the people of faith as giants whom we could never emulate. Upon further inspection, however, we should come to realize they were mere mortals who battled to believe. There was a whole lot of ugly in Sarah's journey to believe God. She was far from a strong, faith-filled giant of Godward trust. She hardly believed at all! Her unbelief caused many problems.

But, slowly, steadily, and clumsily, she came to understand the faithfulness of God. Perhaps we need to have a vision for this doubt-filled collision with God and the self. Hers was far from a "you-just-gotta-believe" story. It was more of a "someday-eventually-through-trial-and-error-and-unbelief-I'll-believe" story.

3. Life From Death

Third, her faith received power for the impossible when she came to expect life from death. The passage reads, "Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." In other words, teeming life came out of a wasteland of near death. Abraham's body couldn't produce offspring. Neither could Sarah's. And from this desert of infertility, God would produce offspring -- biological and also spiritual -- no one could count.

This is the Christian expectation, after all. It is from the gnarliest and most gruesome moments in human history we find the source of greatest life. The cross of Christ was man's and Satan's attempt to crush God, but it actually produced life for humanity. The cross was designed by the Romans to intimidate, but God meant it to embolden. The cross was designed to stop Jesus’ message, but God meant it as the message (1 Corinthians 1:23). The cross was designed to silence grace, but God meant it as the way to release grace (Luke 22:20). The cross was designed to keep Christ’s message from human ears, but God meant it to put the message in our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). The cross was designed to destroy a movement, but God meant it to create one (Acts 4:20). The cross was designed to bring shame, but God meant it to bring glory (Hebrews 12:2). The cross was designed to create rejection, but God meant it to provide acceptance (Ephesians 1:3-6).

From the place of death, life teemed, because faith receives power for the impossible from God.