In Episode 61 of “Coffee with Phil,” your host Phil Strong discusses the concept of laughing at God’s promises, how the journey of Abraham and Sarah can be reflected in our own lives, and how we can journey well with God, trusting that He will do what He says.
BONUS CONTENT
Previous Episode: CWP. 60
Bible Reference: Genesis 17-18
Bible Reference: 1 Samuel 3
Bible Reference: Mark 9:24
Bible Reference: Numbers 11: 23
Bible Reference: Jeremiah 32
Bible Reference: Matthew 14:30-33
Bible Reference: John 1
Bible Reference: Zechariah 8:6
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Introduction
Well g’day and welcome to the podcast. Welcome to coffee with Phil. Welcome back to regular listeners. Welcome to you if you’re a new listener. Really excited to see this spread far and wide, come and have coffee with Phil.
This morning I’m in my Home Office and got to confess a couple of coffees deep, end of the week for me, and sometimes coffee is what lubricates the system to keep things moving, so hope you’re enjoying a decent coffee, for me it was a very fresh roast, nice beans from, of course, from yours truly and a decent flat white with creamy milk. So yeah, enjoy your coffee wherever you are.
Coffee with Phil today, episode 61 and I’m talking about laughing in the face of God. And the whole purpose of this podcast in this season at least, is really me just sharing a journey of faith, my faith, living life, open, transparent, being a little bit vulnerable, but exploring what it means to walk in faith with God and I’ve been sharing that in this season. So jump back and check out previous podcast episodes, there’s transcripts and show notes, there’s links in the descriptions, and really it’s just an opportunity for you to explore. Maybe go on a journey of your own in your faith walk, whatever that looks like.
So, I wanna talk about laughing in the face of God. And today I’ve really been mulling over this because the other night, it was earlier this week, so it’s literally in the last five days, the Lord said to me one evening he said, did you laugh and I instantly knew what he was talking about. Well, at least what his reference point was. Often the Lord will speak to me through Scripture, so I’m going to give you a little bit of Scripture today.
But when the Lord speaks to me and you get that instant knowing, you know, Holy Spirit’s doing something and you, the Lord said, did you laugh? And I knew exactly what he was talking about. And so I want to take you to Genesis chapter 18, it’s the story of the promise that God gave to Abraham and to Sarah. That they have a child of their own, a child of promise that it wouldn’t be a child of the flesh or effort, but that it would be the true blessing that God was bringing.
And So I wanna just really lead you to that, in Genesis 18, there’s, you can read it for yourself, start at the beginning. But look, there’s a statement in there where it says, this time next year, when we come, you will have a son, and it says Sarah was listening at the entrance of her tent, not far behind them. They were old, advancing in years, so Sarah laughed to herself, thinking am I worn out and will I conceive, especially when my husband is old as well.
So here’s that phrase. Sarah laughed to herself, but the response that we see in the next verse as God responds with, to me, what sounds like a challenge. So Genesis 18, verse 13, the Lord said directly to Abraham, did she laugh? Why did Sarah laugh and say, will I really have a child? Now that’s implied in this text that Sarah said to herself, that Sarah thought to herself and it says in the text literally Sarah laughed to herself. And here’s God’s response, here’s God’s challenge. And I wanna just take you on a journey that I’ve been on and you can hopefully take from it something helpful because this was really, I felt the Lord coming back to me with a response that was a challenge, but in that challenge was an invitation. So, Lord, I hope today, I hope that you find the same invitation.
Now before I get into this, I’ve got 1, 2, 3 things that I want to say. But before I get into that, a little disclaimer, and because I like taking feedback and I travel with people, and a mate of mine said to me the other day, he said Oh I listened to your podcast, I forget what episode was, and he said, Oh a little be preachy. And I was like, whoa, whoa, hang on, what? You know cause what I’m not trying to do here is present sermons. I’ve got plenty of opportunity to do that, and I’m not trying to do that in this channel. I’m trying to open up the journey that I’m going on in order that hopefully you can reflect on what I’m saying in order that you to might find God in the midst of your journey. So look, sometimes it does include bringing scripture.
Today, my journey is anchored in scripture. I’m going to show you what journey I went on as a result of this, and how I went on that. And look, if you just watch how I do that, you might also find some opportunity for yourself. But what I’m trying to do today and I’m trying hard not to be preachy, I’m trying to reveal a conversation that I had with God, that was a conversation that went over a couple of days. And I’m hoping to share it in this way, through this channel, that it invites you back to the scriptures, invites you back to that place where you sit with God and you say, OK, Lord, here is your servant I am listening. And of course, that’s a reference to young Samuel, the boy that slept in the temple.
What do I see in this?
So speak Lord, I would say your servant isn’t listening. So let me get back to the story, Abraham is with his visitors and they are visitors from God, we know that God is speaking to them. And Sarah hears the promise, and just to remind you, it says there in Genesis chapter 18 verse 12 that Sarah laughed to herself. But what I want you to know is, if you’d flick back a page, swipe up whichever kind of mode you’re using to read your Bible, is actually in Genesis 17 on the previous page, God had already given this promise to Abraham. God will always remind us that he’s been with us. And so I want you to, you know, like again trying not to be preachy. But look, this is the journey the Lord took me on, He said look at the wider picture of the story of Sarah laughing in the face of God. And I went back and God says to Abraham in Genesis 17, verse 15, as for your wife, don’t call her Sarai, call her Sarah, she will no longer be simply a Princess, she will be a mother of nations, and I will bless her and give you a son through her. I will bless her, the Bible says, and she will become a mother of nations, Kings of countries will come from her.
So God’s taking Abraham on a journey and it says here in verse 17, Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed. So, look at this, Abraham laughed first, and I wanna talk about laughing in the face of God.
The second point that I just need to highlight, and look I’m preaching to myself here, so I am getting preachy, but I’m reminding us that God’s promise us does not waver when we do. That’s the whole point of this, you know, we might laugh in the face of God, but God’s promise does not waver even when we do. Look I’ve learned this through seasons of life. God is faithful when we’re not faithful. God is steady and steadfast when we are weak and wavering. So those would be the two key things, God takes us back to remind us of his promise, and we see Abraham laughing. But God’s promise is steadfast, and it does not fail.
So, I also think you know, back to different stories and seasons in my life, and I noticed that, look, even when God reminds us by repeating his promise, sometimes we still laugh, sometimes we’re like seriously God? You know this is like, what the actual? This is a are you serious? Would you say that? Can I even believe it? It’s a laughing that’s kind of mockery. There’s an implication in the nuance of the text, that God doesn’t waver in that space. God does not waver, and this was a real encouragement for me, you know, as I feel sometimes like a branch in the wind, something that’s getting battered by my environment, my circumstances, the challenges. I’m like, seriously? And there’s a reminder that God brings to us.
So, he doesn’t mind us wavering. He doesn’t mind us waving in the breeze. He doesn’t mind the fact that we’re struggling. God is constant, he’s faithful, and he’s always reminding me that he has made a good promise. So what I also notice in the story, I’m just unpacking this for you, cause I went on this journey, I’m sitting in my chair, I got my cup of tea early one morning. This is how I do my quiet time. The Lord speaks to me, and I’m like I need to go and find that. So I’d gotten up, I’d made a cup of tea and I’d sit in my chair, I’d gone to Genesis 18 cause I knew that was where Sarah was laughing in the face of God. And I’m like, okay Lord, you’ve called me to this place for a reason, as far as you’ve made this statement to me. Did you laugh? Why are you saying that to me? So what I noticed is the response of God in this conversation, and you always gotta find God in the conversation. So why did Sarah laugh, and you know, I’m looking here in verse 12, she laughs and God says, why did you laugh? And you know, around that Sarah’s lying and saying, I didn’t laugh, you know? ButGod’s like, no, no, you did, you did, just own it, you’re wavering in the wind.
But here’s the constancy of God. He brings us back to his goodness, his nature, and his strength, and I wanna highlight the answer to you here, and then I’m gonna loop back to it and kind of explain what God said to me as a result of it.
But here’s the answer. Genesis 18, verse 14. The Lord is like smack in your face kind of thing. He said is anything impossible for Yahweh? I mean how do you answer that? He’s like using his name, which means the great I am, above, before, beyond, superseding all, the preeminent existence that all of creation flowed out of. When he uses his name like that and he’s like, hey, is anything impossible for me the great I am who created all of existence. How can you do anything but bow on your face and in submission. And it kind of really got to be the key point, which I’m gonna finish the podcast with.
What does this mean for me?
But let’s just loop back to the journey that I went on. I’m sitting in the chair in the dark of morning, I’ve got my Bible open in front of me, the Lord’s speaking to me, and I’m like, well, I need to meditate on this, I need to allow… I mean as much as I read Scripture, I think part of the opportunity is that we allow Scripture to read us, that we would go and open ourselves before the living word and say, what is it revealing in me? And so I’m sitting in the chair in the dark of morning, I’m watching the daybreak and enjoying an English breakfast cup of tea, fresh leaf, of course, in the first of the morning, and I gotta ask myself. Why did Sarah laugh?
And when I, you know this is the geek in me, I’m kind of going and look at saying well why is God saying this? And what is he saying? and what’s the nuances, if I can find them in language? And so I use Bible reference tools. I’m using interlinear concordance. I’m looking at other ways that God’s used these words. I don’t know if you know God this way, but here’s what I’ve discovered. God’s got a sense of humour. It’s almost like he’s using the conversation with us, and I’m saying he’s using the conversation with me in humor to say, come on, seriously, why on Earth are you laughing in my face? It’s almost like he’s going in it implies that we would be in amazement. You know, if we’re gonna say this, we’d be like, are you seriously laughing at me right now? That’s what God is saying and he’s like, is anything impossible for Yahweh, is strengthening the question, it’s saying I’m the great I am, and would you dare come before me and laugh in the face of the promise that I’m giving you that’s far above your ability, but is anything too difficult for me? And I’m like, man I sat in that for ages, like sheesh, am I seriously laughing at God’s promise? Am I, well, I’ll get to that in a minute ‘cause I’ve got something else to share with you before I get to that.
So I’m asking these three questions as I’m meditating in my chair. I’m revealing to you the quiet time process that I was sitting in, because I’m hoping that by revealing my life to you, not just what God says, but how I got to the point, that maybe you might find something new in your quiet time process with God. And you can do this sitting in your chair like I do. Well, you could do it walking the dog. You can do it driving a car. I wouldn’t recommend trying to do it while you’re lying in bed, because that’s just a high risk moment for you to go to sleep instead of listening to the Lord. But I asked myself, I was bold enough to ask this question, why did God ask me, did you laugh? There’s gotta be a reason for it, you know? He’s come to me in the dark night before I’d got out of bed, He said did you laugh? And I’m like, oh, I know what that means, we’re on a journey to find the sheer amazement that God would say, are you saying that you don’t believe me , and why?
And so, I look at my behaviour. I look at my language, I look at my prayer life. I look at my emotions and I’ve got 3 words here that came at me that I’m, honestly, I’m still processing. The first one is disbelief. When I looked up the meaning and disbelief, and it’s to be surprised and not sure, it’s like you’re disbelieving it could be possible. And then the second option is misbelief, and according to experts that means I don’t believe. Misbelief is to not believe. And there’s another word that we find in in Gospels. I’m not preaching a sermon so I’m not going there. But unbelief, you know, as a man that cries out to Jesus, help me in my unbelief. And what I found that to mean is, my attitude, or my faith, is hard to shift, but not impossible. And the cry of the man, help me with my unbelief is a cry to Jesus to say will you shift my faith?
So I’m looking at this list and disbelief, misbelief or unbelief, and I’m like, why did God ask me, did you laugh? Is it that I’m not convinced of what God has promised me? Is it that I refuse to believe what God has promised me? Or is it just that I’m hard to shift, I’m in a rut, I’m in a pattern, I’m actually holding on to faith in the wrong things? And I’ve got to be honest with you, I’m still working that out, I’m still journeying that, I’m not prepared to say that I’ve resolved it because I think God’s trying to lead me in this conversation. So when God says to me, did you laugh? And he takes me back to the statement that Sarah made. Is it true? After all this time is God going to lead me into his promise? God got his faithful answer for us.
So let me pause. I’m gonna land this with, what is God’s answer when we laugh in His face. But before I do that, I guess, like I always do, I like to hold up a mirror before you listener, those of you that are on this journey with me and say, are you laughing in the face of God? Is there is a situation you’re in, is there are promise that God’s given you and you’re basically saying, ha ha ha, in the face of God? Are you in disbelief, surprised and not sure? Are you in misbelief, refusing to accept and choosing not to believe? Or are you in unbelief and needing Jesus, to reach his hand out. I don’t know where you’re at. Well, you know, bring it back to the promise. You know like I said to you before, God always comes to repeat himself to remind us because he doesn’t change, His word is a constant. It’s a standard as he’s faithful to His promise, and just because it tarry’s, because it delays, doesn’t mean that He’s changed his mind.
The Lord is always willing to come to us, and we see that, because we see Abraham in Genesis 17, God speaks to him and then in Genesis 18 he brings three visitors to remind Abram of the promise and lead him as Abraham and Sarah, his wife, into the fulfilment of that promise. God is always faithful. So maybe after this you might want to ask yourself a couple of questions. Is there something that God said that I’m struggling to believe or hold on to? And do I just need to cry out to Jesus, help me in my unbelief?
So I’m going to leave that with you, there’s your homework. We’ll make sure that this question is clearly outlined for you in the show notes. So look in the description below wherever you’re grabbing this podcast, take the time, hang on, don’t do it while you’re driving. If you’re driving, don’t do it now, do it later. Come back to the description and hopefully that helps you on your journey with Jesus.
So I want to finish the podcast by dealing with this outcome. What’s God’s answer when we laugh in His face? And this is really just to unpack for you, the conversation in the journey that I went on. I’m sitting in my chair, I didn’t do it all in one day, I came back to it a couple of days in a row and I’m like Lord why are you leading me into this place, and what is it that you want to show me? Because God is always trying to build us up. He’s a father who disciples and disciplines us. He’s a father that wants to strengthen us. He’s a father that speaks life into our circumstances.
God’s answer when we laugh in his face
And so one morning I’ve got this verse and I’m just reading it I’m allowing the scripture to read me and there’s some cross references in there, and I was like, OK, well, the Bible always agrees with the Bible. So let’s look at a few of these references. So we’ll put these again, these references are down in the show notes I’m just going to read them to you because the word of God is a strength to us and a light for our journey. In Numbers, Chapter 11, verse 23, God is having a conversation with Moses and it says here the Lord said to Moses, has the Lords arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not. Oh, I just love that phrase. Gods given me another mic drop moment. He’s like has my arm been shortened? And it’s allegorical, obviously, God’s got arms. Well we assume He does, well, of course he does, He talks about his mighty right arm and the power of his mighty right arm, and so when the language is saying has the arm of the Lord been shortened? Really what he’s saying is, has my power diminished? The New Living Translation says, has my arm lost its power? It’s a rhetoric question because we know, of course, God doesn’t lose his power. So when we laugh in God’s face and disbelief, misbelief or unbelief. God says seriously, are you saying that your faith, your belief structure is based on your acceptance that God has lost his power? And of course, if you’re a believer, you’re gonna say no. I don’t wanna believe that. I do not believe that. For if you believe that you’re basically saying you have no faith. Numbers 11, verse 23, the Lord says has my arm been shortened? And I would say to you. No, it has not.
The prophet Jeremiah captures a conversation with God in Jeremiah 32. It’s a great chapter around the faithfulness of God. And Jeremiah’s in this, in the struggle, because he’s, I would say he’s, not in unbelief, but he’s kind of, he’s looking for understanding. The headline in the Bible in The New King James says Jeremiah prays for understanding. He’s done what the Lord asked, and he’s like, is this really where I’m supposed to be? And Jeremiah’s prayer says this, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens and the Earth by your great power and your outstretched arm, there is nothing too difficult for you. And I was reading this one morning, because you know, the references took me here. And I was like, you know what, sometimes we just need to pray the scripture.
And so that morning, I’m declaring my agreement with Scripture. I’m saying yes, Lord God, you did make the heavens and the earth, you are the great I am, and by your great power and your outstretched arm you spoke and the world was created. I confess that I agree there is nothing too difficult for you. And then I added, in the context of my world, your promise comes from your mouth. Therefore you are faithful to deliver on those promises and I am waiting to see your great power and you’re outstretched arm, because nothing is too difficult for you. And I’ve got to say, confessing Scripture brings me to a place of faith. Confessing Scripture brings me to a place of faith. So when I agree with the word of God, I am saying I choose to trust that, it’s like I’m calling out to Jesus and, you’ll get the connection here, I’m calling out to Jesus like the man that said, Lord, I have faith, but help me with my unbelief. Or I’m calling out to Jesus like Peter did when he was on the water and he began to sink. He said. Lord, save me, he called out to Jesus and Jesus reached out his hand and Peter didn’t drown.
What’s my point? When you call out the living word, remember Jesus is the word, in the beginning was the word, John Chapter one, and the word was God, and the word was with God. And so we’ve got Jesus, the living word, when we confess Scripture, we’re confessing Jesus. We’re saying, Lord, I’m putting my faith in your word, and that’s what I was doing this morning. The final verse I want to just reference again, try not to preach you sermon, I’m trying to give you God’s word to give you hope.
In Zechariah chapter 8, verse 6. Zechariah Chapter 8 verse 6, this is what God is saying, now He’s saying through the prophet, but it’s the word of the Lord God Almighty for us. This is what the Lord of heavens armies says, so that’s Yahweh, Sabaoath. That’s the name of the Lord there. This is the Lord who commands heavens armies says to me, all this may seem impossible to you, a small group, a remnant of God’s people, but is it impossible for me says the Lord. I was reading and the new English translation that morning on my iPad and this is the language it says here, it says and says the Lord of heavens armies, though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of a small community, and I was really arrested by that, because I was thinking and what being influenced by the voices around me, am I being negatively influenced by those that are with me. And I’m not saying I was, I’m saying it’s a question I asked.
So, as I wrap this up, I just wanted to take you on a journey and just reveal to you that God is coming back to remind and repeat his promise over my life, and so I’m looking at, you know, my family life, you know, my wife, Kathy and the kids, and looking at our home life and where we live in this beautiful home, I’m looking at the city that God’s planted us in, he called us here to be part of what he’s doing in our community and he’s given us an invitation into advancing into good things, you know with business and the economy and the pain in the Community, looking at all these invitations that God is giving us. And I’m saying, you know, God, I confess your armors outstretched, your arm is not short, your arm is powerful. I confess your promise has not changed, and though I waver in the wound and I doubt some days or I listen to the accusation of the devil, who comes to deceive me. I say, Lord, help me with my unbelief. Help my heart to shift to agreement with you, that I would say, as the Bible does, as the living word of God does that you are faithful to your promises.
So wherever you’re at in your journey of faith. May that be encouragement for you, may you say, you know what? Yeah. Thanks. God is faithful, and I’m gonna confess that over my life, over my family, over my journey, my destiny, my job, my finances, my children, my relationships. God is faithful. Always come back to the promise because God is willing to come to us to remind us to repeat his promise even if we laugh in his face. So don’t be mocking but be seeking. Ask God to help you, and my prayer is with you as it is with also me.
So May God bless you on this journey. I’m loving hanging out with you on this context in the podcast. Share it with your friends. Don’t forget to subscribe, because you will get one of these episodes in your podcast channel every week, and I look forward to being here with you. Alright. Enjoy your coffee this week and I’ll see you soon.