I know someone who says their family is going on their first vacation together, to Disney World. They’re going all out – 5 days in the attractions.

Search Youtube and you will find over 100,000 videos of people surprising their kids with trips to Disney.  The kids are astounded at the news.  They’re going to the happiest place on earth (so the advertising says).  Maybe they’ve been asking for years, and the answer’s always been “no”.

They have finally given up, finally resigned themselves and stopped asking, when out of nowhere, the parents say they’ll be taking a trip to Disney.

They don’t know whether to believe it or not, it’s too good to be true.  Sometimes they just go ape, bouncing all over the place, screaming, uncontrollably full of joy.

Now kids are kids, they get excited about things like theme parks.

But what kinds of things do adults get this excited about?

Being called down on the Price is Right?  No, there are better things in life.  A clear diagnosis after a health scare?  A relationship restored after years of estrangement?  A positive pregnancy test after years of trying?  These are the kinds of great news that might cause a reaction like kids going to Disney.  If someone promised you it would finally happen, you might not believe them, having become so discouraged over the years.  But if it happens, if it really happens, it’s the greatest news ever.

This week we’ll study a story from the Old Testament where it happens.  A couple, after years of trying, have never had a child despite God having told them they’d have millions of descendants.

In the story we’ll read tomorrow, they’re finally too old to imagine having children, around 90 and 100 years old.  They’ve given up, and the husband even went and had a son with another woman, to make sure his legacy lived on, with his wife’s encouragement.  When God reiterated his promise, they laughed in his face.

But then God came through and gave the couple what he’d promised, despite their failure, and despite their laughter.

Question: Who has ever told you a plan for your life that seemed impossible?   Did it happen?

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