By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.(Heb 11:11)

    Sarah was Abraham’s wife. She had followed her husband on the journey to an unknown destination, to which God had called him. Though they had been married for many years, Sarah was unable to conceive. She remained barren throughout her premenopausal years. Yet God’s promise to them was: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.” (Gen 12:2). How were they to become a great nation, if she could not conceive? In fact, on one recorded occasion, Abraham brought up the matter with God: “But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”.” (Gen 15:2,3). God’s response was : “…“This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” (Gen 15:4). God did not mean that any son Abraham fathered by any other woman, apart from Sarah, would be acceptable as his heir. Sarah was God’s choice  for that purpose. God brought this fact home, when He bluntly refused to recognise Ishmael (Abraham’s son by Hagar) as his heir. In keeping with His nature God made good His promise to Abraham and Sarah : “Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.” (Gen 21:1-2). How did Sarah’s story have such a happy ending? That is exactly what the text in Hebrews chapter 11:11 shows us. Let us now look at what lessons we can draw from it.
    “By faith Sarah herself….”. What we first see, based on this text, is that faith was foundational to Sarah’s victory over barrenness. What was true of her is still true of you today. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Where faith does not exist, God’s will cannot be done. Remember, it was God’s pleasure and will for Sarah to bear Isaac, just as much as it is His will for you to conceive and bear His visions and plans for your life. Nevertheless, if you, unlike Sarah, do not exercise faith, it will not happen. Faith is believing and acting on God’s word as quickened and applied by the HolySpirit. All God’s plans and purpose for your life are existing realities in the spiritual realm. This is why the Bible says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Eph 1:3). Furthermore, 2Peter chapter 1:3 (NIV), says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” These texts reveal that all we need to be, do and have all God wants for us have already been given in the heavenly places. God’s love and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ have made them available for us. What is required now is for us to take delivery of them by FAITH. We do not need to persuade God to give them, for He has, already.
   
    What about the emphatic pronoun, “…Sarah herself…” in the text? It is there for a reason. It underscores the fact that it was the same Sarah, strength weaknesses and all, not some superhuman person, who had exercised faith and received from God. This emphasizes our common human heritage with her. She was just as human as we are. Those familiar with the Biblical  account of Sarah’s life, will remember that it was she who had suggested Hagar to Abraham as an alternative, for procreation. She was also the one who had laughed in unbelief when God reiterated His promise to them and then quickly denied she had done so, out of fear. Though the foregoing neither excuses their mistakes nor should serve as a licence to evil, it should inspire confidence in us towards God as gracious enough to remedy our human errors.
    The next thing we see is that,”…Sarah herself…received strength to conceive seed. The natural order of human reproduction is for a woman to conceive, following her reception of a man’s sperm and then carry the pregnancy to term before bearing a child. Sarah lived with her husband, Abraham, which implies that they had consistently fulfilled the human side of the requirements for conception. Both their desire and efforts did not yield fruit. They had met the necessary conditions, but not the sufficient condition for the desired result. The Bible tells us that, “…it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Rom 9:16). Like Sarah, it is impossible for you to conceive God’s plans for you by mere human desire or effort. Remember, Sarah was to conceive not just any seed, but a special one. She was to bring forth Laughter (Isaac). Your experiences at the moment may seem to parallel hers. Do you sense you have been called to bear some special fruit for your generation, and yet repeated efforts, on your part, to achieve it have been unproductive? Then rest assured that you are in good company. What you need is what Sarah needed and eventually received—STRENGTH—God’s strength. Shalom.