God spoke to Abram about a huge plan He had set up for him. First, He promised Abram to make of him a great nation (Gen. 12:2). Second, He promised to make Abram’s descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:16). Third, He promised to make Abram’s offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). Last, God promised to make Abram a father to many nations and to multiply him exceedingly (Gen. 17:2, 4). What a promise! To be the ancestor of a multitude of nations! It was a great promise, and Abram trusted God; he had a strong faith that God would keep His promise. Genesis 15:6 says, “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” But years went by, and there was no sign of Sarah’s pregnancy. Abram finally talked to God: “God, you have promised me that I would be a father to many nations, but you haven’t given me the offspring yet.”
Now Abram was getting older; he was celebrating his 100th birthday. Sarah was 90 and had passed the age of childbearing, but they were still waiting for a “promised” son. Again, Abram said to God, “You haven’t kept your promise.” “I will,” answered God. One sunny day, God appeared before the face of Abram and said, “At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Gen. 18:14). Despite Sarah’s unbelief, it happened exactly as God had said. Isaac was born, and Abram was extremely HAPPY to receive this gift, a child, one component of life’s HAPPINESS.
What makes people HAPPY? This sounds like a simple question, but the answer is difficult because people have different perceptions of HAPPINESS. Everyone has a personal concept of what makes him or her HAPPY.
Research has found that there are several things that make people happy, but money, wealth, position, or a good job are not options. Instead, family or good relationships are among the things that truly make people HAPPY. So, it was no wonder that Abram and Sarah were so HAPPY when Isaac was born, not only because God had fulfilled His promise, but because an offspring is one of the ways to accomplish HAPPINESS in marriage for many couples.
I have just experienced the same HAPPINESS as that of Abram and Sarah. My youngest daughter got married four years ago. During the first year of her marriage, there was no sign that she was expecting. I felt that was OK because maybe she just wanted to spend quality time with her husband, without being disturbed by a baby’s cry. The second year passed, but still no baby. But when the third year had almost ended and with the fourth year of their marriage fast approaching, my wife and I began to worry. Could she bear a child? Her husband is the only child in his family, so, his parents wished to have a grandchild of their own. What a disappointment it would be should my daughter and her husband could not give them a grandkid. We did an intercessory prayer for the young couple. We prayed earnestly and pleaded with God to say the same sentence to them that He had said to Abram: “At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and your daughter shall have a son.” We tried to almost “force” God to say such a sentence when we prayed. We fasted and asked for God’s mercies on our daughter and her husband. Last month we received the good news that my daughter was two months pregnant. What a HAPPY feeling! We were extremely HAPPY and grateful that God has answered our petitions.
Talking about HAPPINESS, real HAPPINESS is found only in Jesus. Only Jesus can give us HAPPINESS. “HAPPY are the people whose God is the Lord!” (Ps. 144:15). Let’s put our trust in God, then we will find true HAPPINESS.
Hiskia Missah
Editor
