It was in the heat of the day and the nomad, Abraham, was setting at the entrance to his tent, probably trying to beat the heat. For unannounced reasons he looked up and saw three men standing nearby. The Bible says to us the Lord was in those three men, and Abraham knew it. How he knew it, we don't know, but he knew he was in the midst of a divine appointment of some kind. Extending great hospitality to the strangers, and making sure their needs were met, Abraham listened.

The men asked him where his wife was. Abraham told them and then heard a message that would change his life. In the personhood of these three men, "the Lord said, 'I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son'" (Genesis 18:10).

Sarah overheard the conversation and laughed out loud when she heard about the year she was to have. Abraham was old and Sarah was well past childbearing age. Some things just evoke laughter when you hear them, I suppose.

We know the story. Some nine months later Sarah gave birth to the promised son. Isaac took his place in the unfolding plan of God, and the stage was set for God's remarkable grace.

Don't try to explain it scientifically; you'll come up short. Just receive it as an act of God who speaks creatively into history, and works in ways that leave the human intellect awed and amazed. The question is asked by the Lord to Abraham, "Is anything too hard for the Lord" (Vs. 14). The birth of Isaac gives us the answer.

As the people of God in Christ it wouldn't be a bad devotional action to ask our selves once in a while, "Is anything too hard for God?" The answer will always be NO. Still, there is a lot of Sarah in us, isn't there. And, sometimes it's hard to believe that with God all things are possible.

Believe it, though, because God is in the midst.