And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Hebrews 11:11,12
There are times in this life when nothing can help. Whatever’s going on, there comes a point that it’s just time to give up. We’ve gone too far and there’s absolutely nothing that can be done. At least we think so.
We hit that point right after we moved into our house in Danbury, Connecticut. Mary Ann wanted the house across the street because it was bigger and needed less work. But I wanted the older, smaller house because it was on a lake.
Once in the house on the lake, I went to work on our bedroom. On the first weekend I ripped out some really ugly and old built-in cabinets. I then patched the walls and rolled on a coat of primer paint. I was all set to put on the final coat and move into our new bedroom. Or so I thought.
When I walked into the house that Monday evening, I saw Mary Ann cooking and crying at the same time. Whatever was in the pot on the stove, she was beating it up with a wooden spoon like there was no tomorrow. Before I could say a word, she looked at me and said, “I don’t want to talk about it. We’re moving back to Delaware.”
I quietly left and changed clothes. When I came back into the kitchen, she took me into the bedroom where I had worked so hard all weekend. She pointed to all these places on the walls where the primer was peeling off the walls. She saw no way that we’d ever be able to move into our bedroom.
What happened next is the stuff that legends are made of. I left the room and returned with a flashlight and pencil. I breathed a silent prayer, looked into her eyes I said, “OK, let’s find all the places that need repair. I’ll draw a circle around those spots and fix them. I’ll hand sand the peeling paint down to the bare wall. Then I’ll re-prime those spots.”
Have you ever gotten what I call “the look.” You know, the look that says, “Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? Well, Mary Ann had the right to give me that look. I had earned it. But she humored me and we went all around the room and I circled every spot where the paint was peeling or there was any imperfection.
Over the next few days, I sanded all those circles down to the bare walls. When I was finished, the room looked like it had been decorated by an albino leopard. Each spot was then re-primed and lightly sanded. By the next weekend, I was ready to roll the final coat in that room. And not a single spot peeled.
I have to tell you that I really didn’t know what I was doing. But it was the only thing I could think of. I didn’t call up a professional painter and ask their opinion. I didn’t go to the hardware store and ask their advice. There was no such thing as online help, so I was sort of on my own.
This is where Abraham and Sarah find themselves. They didn’t have paint peeling off their walls, but they were at the end of their rope. There was no place to go. There was no one they could ask advice from. They had gone too far.
It’s at moments like this that the only thing we can do is look to God. We’ve gone too far. There’s no way that we can dig ourselves out. It’s like that scene from The Guns of Navarone, “We’re in now, up to our neck[1].” Since there’s no way that we can fix the problems, we finally are ready to turn to God.
The question that I have to ask myself is, “Why does it take me so long to get to the point of turning to God? To finally ask God for help and do whatever he says. Why didn’t I ask him first before I got myself in so much trouble? Causing so much pain for the ones I love?
I can only answer that question for myself. It’s all about my pride. My unmovable confidence that I can noodle my way out of any problem. Or, that I can find a way to blame someone else. Deflecting whatever everyone’s angry about on someone or something that I’m not responsible for.
Sarah was past childbearing age. Abraham was as good as dead. And yet, there was this promise from God that he would make their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky[2].
So, something had to give. Something had to change. Sarah and Abraham couldn’t change themselves. They were too old. They’d gone too far. So, God had to step in and do what they couldn’t do. All they could do was to have faith. To believe God and let him take care of things. I know that it sounds so simple. But it goes against everything we’ve been told. We can do anything. We can become whatever we want. We can fulfill our dreams. But this is the great lie of the 21st century. We can’t do anything. We were made for a purpose, and the greatest thing we can do is to become the people God made us to be. This is the absolute best life. The life God made us for.
Noodling Questions
Describe a time when there seemed like nothing was going to help.
How do you feel when there’s no where to go? Nothing more to do?
When God does what only God can do, what goes through your mind?
[2] Genesis 26:4
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