"Sarah was Able!"

  "It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead - a nation with so many people that, as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them." (Hebrews 11:11-12 NLT)

  "I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed to you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 1:4-8 KJV)

 With some kind of humility, I will try to illustrate what this all means, and why Paul's statement to the church in Corinth has any sort of connection with what we might see in Hebrews 11:11. If you know what kind of things Sarah did, which were wrong, then you would also know that she really didn't think that God was going to give her the ability to have a child. 

 Looking at the obvious things that stand out, the fact that she laughed when she heard God tell her husband that she was going to give birth, was made known to Abraham, because God knew and heard her laugh at what He said. The other very obvious thing she did that was wrong, was offering her handmaiden to Abraham, saying that maybe God was talking about it being her, since they were somewhat connected. Obviously, Abraham was okay with that offering and didn't make an argument over it.  

 This might be a surprise to some, but God used this blunder for good; as it was, the offspring from the child born from Hagar, Ishmael, actually were the traders that came by when Josheph was in the pit. His brothers sold him to them, and they took him and traded him in Egypt. Which then turned into the whole family of Jacob being saved from the famine.

 This was also the connection to the dream that God gave Abraham, telling him about his descendants being slaves for 400 years in a foreign land. God really can make our mistakes work for the good...

"And we know thar all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purposes. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:28-31 KJV)