And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.(Gen 21,1)

What a simple description of the most significant events in the history of the world: the Lord visited... the Lord fulfilled. As if it were the simplest thing that could happen to man! But we've been telling the story of Abram's transformation for too long to make it clear that it's not so simple from man's perspective - that is, until he finds himself in the position of blessing. Abraham and Sarah had been working towards this for 25 years, and it was only at some point in their journey that it became so easy and natural. But then it actually seemed more natural to them than the opposite! Unless one is in a position towards God that God wants to bless, it is far more natural that things don't work out and accepting them from God seems difficult. Once he is in such a position, he finds it strange, on the contrary, why shouldn't these God´s things work?

Isaac's birth was a pivotal point in the history of the salvation of the world for God. Without Isaac, there would have been no Israel and no Christ. God worked on Abraham for years, and we know that at times it was pretty bitter medicine for him. But when Scripture gloriously announces the fulfillment of the promise, it does not first say that God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, but to... Sarah! Yet it seems to us that the struggles of faith have been waged primarily by Abraham all along, and his wife even often appears in the position of doubter. But this description of the birth of a son, the diction of the text, proves that God was also working on Sarah and her faith all along, even if it was done more covertly, "behind the curtain."

Sarah was in a simpler position than Abraham in the sense that he could not afford to doubt publicly. He was a bit like today's clergy in this regard: his responsibility to the whole community led him to keep certain struggles to himself and not show doubt in order to keep their faith in God from wavering. Sarah had more freedom in this, and could vent her skepticism more easily - so she laughs at God's messengers instead of believing, invents another path when God's way seems to lead nowhere, etc.

But we see that in the end, even Sarah rose to the heights in her heart and believed against all reality that God is faithful and able to fulfill what He promised, so God "fulfilled...her".

God doesn't want to leave anyone behind, He wants to lead everyone to higher paths without exception! And how precious it is when spouses can walk on them together.