Shock can reveal itself in many unique ways. It may be a loss for words or a shaking of the head — one that resonates with me the most is laughter. Abraham and Sarah experienced this laughter in Genesis 17:15-19 (NKJV):

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him."

As a backstory, God had given Abraham a promise that he would be a great nation (Genesis 12:2) and that his offspring would be as the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16). The only issue was that Abraham and Sarah were well beyond their childbearing years. As God shared this promise, Abraham fell in reverence to God and laughed in awe of this news. God then shared the impossible with Abraham that he and his wife would have a son of their own named Isaac. Abraham chose to believe the Lord, “and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

God demonstrated the impossible for me in 2016, during my freshman year of college at Regent University. I ran track and field and cross country all four years of high school. However, during my senior year, I faced the harsh reality that I would not be a college athlete. While the passion was there, my times were not where they needed to be, and on top of that, I would soon be attending a university with no athletic program. During my first two months of college, I ran drills and sprints around campus, reminiscing on my former days. 

To my surprise, two months later, I got the message that Regent University was starting its first-ever athletics program, beginning with track and field! To this news, I laughed in wonder. My mind raced with questions. “Are you serious? Am I about to be a collegiate athlete? We don’t even own an athletic facility; where will we practice?” 

During this season, I witnessed that God can make all things possible. He allowed me to not only become a collegiate athlete but to make history and leave a legacy for future athletes for years to come.

God is truly a God of the impossible. He “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20). 

Will you put your trust in Him today for the impossible?

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.