In our young adult Bible study tonight at Calvary, Beau Eckert talked about God's promise to Abraham and Sarah: to make their descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky. The years passed, Abraham and Sarah were old, and worst of all Sarah was barren. It is a story of waiting, and waiting and waiting . . . and a lesson of trusting in God, for His timing and clinging to Him despite the impossible. God's timing is so often not our timing . . . but it is all-knowing and perfect. We can't see the beautiful tapestry God is weaving, or the colorful painting He is illustrating, for we only see in part. We see a thread, we see a brush stroke, and our hearts want to cry out in despair---but God's sweeping gaze covers the vast ocean of eternity, and He sees and knows how each detail is working together to make up the bigger picture.

And it wasn't just Abraham and Sarah who waited on God's promise as they faced the bleakness of being barren; it was their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah (who was barren), and Isaac's son Jacob and his wife Rachel (who was barren). Three generations of the Lord bringing these men wives who were barren! Why? Especially after God's promise? Numerous descendants? Why wouldn't God just provide them with fertile women? What was going on? It was so that through the impossible God might be seen at work . . . so that man could not take any credit . . . it was God's hand and clearly God's hand alone that raised them up . . . and it was so people would know that He is GOD ALMIGHTY . . . and all the glory might go to His name . . . man could not boast in this . . . man could take no credit . . .there was no other way that anyone could get credit except God Himself!

This whole reflection made me think of our little guy, and all the details surrounding the process of bringing him here and everything that has happened so far . . . we cannot control it. It isn't according to "our time." The financial issue continues, and the paperwork continues. Yet in His own time, God will bring His plans to pass. We have seen and continue to see His hand at work throughout the whole process, despite the "stumbling blocks" which we've encountered. In the end, God's name will be glorified to the maximum throughout this whole experience!