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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany
January 31, 2026
Reading: Genesis 18:1-16
The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
They said to him, ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’ And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?’ The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.’ But Sarah denied, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. He said, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh.’
Then the men set out from there, and they looked towards Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
In Genesis, we get the foundational stories that shape everything that goes on in the rest of the Bible. As a result, it can be kind of an unwieldy book at times, such that some of the stories get lost in the fray. Though the story of Abraham and Sarah might be familiar to us in terms of its general arc, this intimate snapshot from the story deserves a closer look. I particularly like the portion where they are debating as to whether or not Sarah laughed at God. I have heard it said that God has a sense of humor, which I like to believe is a sentiment that rings true in this moment.
The real point of the story comes in the middle, with the line “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” It is a lovely phrase that we could all use, especially in times of understandable pessimism. God is always challenging our ideas of what is possible, so what if instead of responding with doubt when asked how things could improve, we choose to say “is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
So many of the great movements of positive change in our world started out with people saying that change wasn’t possible and that things would always be the way that they are. But this story reminds us that with God, all things are possible, and that sometimes our expectations and comfort can be limiting factors.
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