Day 23 – Promise and Patience
Miracles Arise
However you can engage today, we’re here. Read, listen or both.
The written portion gives an overview, with verses broken down into smaller bites, and journaling/prayer prompts for reflection. In the podcast, Steve Traylor reflects on today’s passage with Scripture reading, a deeper pastoral teaching, and prayer (about 15 minutes). Perfect for morning coffee, commutes, or when your eyes need a rest.
Genesis 21:1–21
Step into this day with quiet expectation.
Twenty-five years have passed since God first promised Abraham a son. Sarah is ninety years old. Abraham is one hundred. And yet—God does what He promised.
If you’ve been waiting for something that feels impossibly delayed, this passage is for you.
God does not forget His promises. He may not move on your timeline. But He always, always fulfills His Word.
Today we see: the God who promises is the God who provides—even when hope feels long past its expiration date.
1. Laughter and Life
Genesis 21:1–7
¹ The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had spoken. ² Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴ Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him.
⁶ Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷ She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
The LORD visited Sarah.
Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. But actually, truly, physically—He did what He promised.
Sarah laughs.
Not the bitter laughter of unbelief she once had (Genesis 18:12-15). This is the laughter of joy, of wonder, of disbelief that something so good could actually happen.
She names her son Isaac—“he laughs.”
Every time she calls his name, she remembers: God keeps His promises, even when all human possibility has expired.
Abraham is one hundred years old. Sarah is ninety. This is not a natural birth—it is a miracle.
And that’s the point.
When God works, He often waits until there is no human explanation left. So that when the promise is fulfilled, everyone knows: this was God.
Journaling/Prayer: Where have you been waiting so long that hope feels foolish? What promise from God feels like it has an expiration date that has already passed?
If you’re in that place now, hear this: God has not forgotten you. He has not abandoned His word.
He may be waiting until every human possibility is exhausted—so that when He moves, there will be no question who did it.
Your timeline is not His timeline. But His timeline is always right.
If you can’t yet believe that, tell Him honestly: “I’m tired of waiting. I don’t see how this can still happen.” And then ask: “But if You’re still working, will You help me trust You?”
He will. Not today, perhaps. But He will.
2. Division and Distress
Genesis 21:8–13
⁸ The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ⁹ Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”
¹¹ The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. ¹² God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your servant. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For your offspring will be named through Isaac. ¹³ I will also make the son of the servant into a nation, because he is your child.”
Joy and tension. Celebration and conflict.
Isaac is weaned—a milestone. But Sarah sees Ishmael mocking, and old wounds reopen.
She demands that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away.
And Abraham grieves.
This is his son too. Ishmael is not a mistake to be erased—he is a person, loved by his father.
But God speaks: “Listen to Sarah.”
Not because Sarah’s motives are pure—they’re not. She is protecting Isaac’s inheritance, yes, but also acting out of jealousy and insecurity.
God does not endorse Sarah’s heart. But He does align with her decision—because His purposes for Isaac and Ishmael are different.
Isaac is the son of promise. Ishmael will also be blessed, but in a different way.
Sometimes God’s direction involves painful separation. Not because He delights in pain, but because His purposes require distinct paths.
Journaling/Prayer: Where in your life has God’s direction required painful separation? Have you had to let go of something—or someone—you loved because it was not part of God’s plan for you?
If you’re grieving a separation right now—whether from a relationship, a community, a hope, or a season of life—you are not alone.
Abraham grieved too. And God did not condemn him for it.
But God also promised: “I will make the son of the servant into a nation, because he is your child” (Genesis 21:13).
God does not ask you to release something and then abandon it. If God is asking you to release something, trust that He sees the whole picture. He will not abandon what He has purposes for. He will care for what He asks you to surrender—according to His plan.
Tell Him your grief. Ask Him to help you trust His plan—even when it hurts.
3. Wilderness and Water
Genesis 21:14–21
¹⁴ Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ The water in the container was spent, and she abandoned the child under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.
¹⁷ God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”
¹⁹ God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰ God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and as he grew up, he became an archer. ²¹ He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother got a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
Abraham obeys God’s command, but his provision is strikingly inadequate. Obedience to God did not require abandoning compassion. He could have ensured Hagar and Ishmael’s safety, yet he sends them out with almost nothing. Scripture does not justify this choice—it moves quickly to show that God Himself steps in where human care failed.
Hagar and Ishmael are sent into the wilderness.
The water runs out. Hagar cannot bear to watch her son die, so she puts him under a shrub and sits at a distance. She lifts her voice and weeps.
And God hears.
Not Abraham’s voice. Not Sarah’s voice. But the voice of the boy—Ishmael, the child of the servant woman, the one cast out.
God hears him.
The angel of God calls to Hagar: “What troubles you? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the voice of the boy.”
Then God opens her eyes, and she sees a well of water.
The well was there—but she couldn’t see it. God had to reveal it.
This is the nature of His provision: sometimes He removes obstacles, sometimes He opens our eyes to see what He’s already prepared.
And God does not abandon Ishmael. He grows. He thrives. He becomes a nation—just as God promised.
Journaling/Prayer: Where do you feel like you’re in the wilderness, running out of resources, unable to see a way forward? What do you need God to open your eyes to see?
If you’re in a season where provision feels scarce, where you feel unseen or abandoned—hear this:
God hears your voice. He has not forgotten you.
And He may not remove the wilderness. But He will open your eyes to see what you need.
The well may already be there—you just can’t see it yet.
Tell God: “I can’t see a way forward. Open my eyes. Show me what I’m missing.”
He will. Not always instantly. But He will.
Summary
Today we saw God’s faithfulness across two parallel stories:
Sarah receives the promise she has waited twenty-five years for. Hagar and Ishmael are sent into the wilderness, but God hears their cry and provides.
Both stories teach the same truth: God does not forget. God does not abandon. God provides—even when provision looks different than we expected.
For Sarah, provision was a miracle birth—Isaac, the son of promise, through whom all nations would be blessed (Genesis 22:18). For Hagar, provision was a well in the wilderness and a future for her son.
Both are miracles. Both are God’s faithfulness.
And Isaac’s birth points us forward: God’s ultimate promise would come through this impossible child’s lineage—Jesus Christ, the true Son of Promise, through whom God would bring salvation to the world.
Your waiting is not wasted. Your wilderness is not forgotten.
God is at work—even now.
Action / Attitude for Today
Walk through today holding this truth: God has not forgotten His promises to you.
If you’re waiting for something, choose today to trust that His timing is right—even when it feels impossibly delayed.
If you’re in the wilderness, running low on resources and hope, choose today to ask God to open your eyes to what you cannot yet see.
Say this simple prayer: “God, I’m waiting. I’m weary. I can’t see the way forward. But I choose to trust that You have not forgotten me. Open my eyes to see what You’re providing. Help me hold on just a little longer.”
That’s enough.
Because the God who visited Sarah after twenty-five years is the same God who heard Ishmael’s cry in the wilderness.
He hears you too.
And He will not leave you without provision.
The Bible for the Broken is published by Aurion Press LLC. © Aurion Press LLC. All rights reserved.