Think about all of the choices that we have each day. Just in the morning, we have dozens of different cereals to eat, perhaps that many varieties of milk to pour on top of the cereal, and nearly as many ways to make coffee to go with it. All of these are choices that we often take for granted.

Now think about all of the choices God had as He took a significant step in redemptive history and chose a couple to start a new people from whom the promised Rescuer would come. (Gen. 3:15) We see some of those choices at the tail end of Genesis 11, but we need to remember that God is not confined to choices like we are. He is all-powerful and sovereign; God had an infinite number of choices for this critical couple. 

So whom did God choose? A man named Abram and his barren wife Sarai. Now that’s a surprise, isn’t it? This is the couple whom God would give descendants as numerous as the stars? (Gen. 15:5) From the world’s perspective, this was a curious choice at best—and a laughable choice at worst. 

God Makes Possible the Impossible

But from God’s perspective, Abram and Sarai were a brilliant choice. First, God made it clear from the inception of this new people that He was the One bringing everything to pass. This family was special because God clearly worked in them to bring forth children. This is what Sarai understood when she said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age” (Gen. 21:7). That the son of promise, Isaac, married a wife, Rebekah—who was also barren—is not a coincidence. (Gen. 25:21) Nor is it a coincidence that Jesus would be born to a virgin. (Luke 1:34) God is the God who makes possible that which is impossible, including rescuing people from sin. 

Beginning a Faithful People

Second, it took a while, but Abram’s faith in God came to fruition because of his wife’s barrenness. This was his barrier to faith in God. This is what he struggled with for so many years. In the end, Abram’s greatest struggle became the greatest kindling of his faith. God didn’t just begin a people through barrenness; He began a faithful people through it. 

God’s covenant with Abram was certainly amazing. But perhaps His choice of Abram in the first place is even more amazing.

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