Doubt, it is one of those things we all deal with. At times, it plagues us more than others. When we have spent years staring down a list of unanswered prayers, doubt can creep in more and more. I recently started a devotional talking about casting doubt aside. One of the stories spoken of was the one of Abraham and Sarah. It talked about how Sarah laughed when she heard the angel tell Abraham that next year she would have a child.

‘Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say,’will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son” Genesis 18:13-14

We know that Abraham had been promised a son by the Lord many many years before(Genesis 15) We know that he and Sarah tried to take things into their own hands and bring about this promise on their own(Genesis 16) But here we read that after years of waiting, when Abraham and Sarah were both old then the promise was to be fulfilled. Is anything too hard for the Lord? This is the question that the angel asked Abraham and the challenge given by the author of the devotional to think of things that we feel are impossible and pray knowing nothing is too hard for God.

As I began thinking about this, I remembered many years ago I had done something similar. I had written out all the things at the time that I felt were impossible for God and said, Lord, this is not too hard for you. Now, I would have to search through years of journals to find that, but there is one thing on there that I knew I had prayed for that was not answered the way I asked for it. As I thought about that and wrote out my thoughts, I was reminded that nothing is impossible to God, but, that doesn’t mean that his answering the way we ask is what is best. Doubts creep in when we forget that while God is able to do the impossible, God is God and He is sovereign and he knows what we do not. His timing is perfect, just as it was for Abraham and Sarah. We get impatient, we want change now. As I wrote my list, there were a few things I have been praying about for many years. Things that seem to get worse not better. In that moment, I had to say Lord, I don’t understand but I trust you and your timing.

As I was driving to work that morning, the sky was filled with dark storm clouds, however, just at the horizon, where the sun was coming up, the sky was clear. The sun was bursting through that small area of cloudless sky just at the horizon. It was a reminder to me, a reminder that where I look matters, especially when it comes to facing doubt. The problems and impossible circumstances in our lives feel like dark clouds. When we look at them, that’s all we see. But when we look to the horizon, when we keep our eyes on our savior, it is like the sun breaking through the clouds. While as the sun rises it may end up behind those dark clouds, we know it is still there, at work, providing warmth to the earth. It is no different in our lives. Dark clouds may surround us and we may not see the Lord at work, but we know that He is always working always doing millions of things in our lives that we are never aware of. Lord, help us to keep our eyes on the horizon, to see the light of your presence breaking through the dark clouds of doubt. Remind us Lord that you are always at work, even when we can’t see it.