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Have you even doubted the Lord? I don’t mean have you ever doubted that God existed. I’m also not asking you if you have ever doubted that the Bible is the Word of God. I’m not even asking if you have ever doubted if the miracles in the Bible really happened? Those examples are not the kind of doubt I'm talking about. I know a many people listening to this Podcast would probably say they would never doubt the Lord on the basis of the type of questions I have just asked. What I am specifically asking you is have ever doubted the Lord in any part of your Christian Life.

In my Christian life I frequently come across people who seem to me to doubt that the Lord has forgiven them. They will often bring up question about whether a huge big sin in their life can be truly forgiven. In my life I once spoke to Christians who have had an affair and even thought their spouses have forgiven them wonder if they could ever be forgiven by God. I have spoken to other who feel guilty about their action during times when the were trapped in the downward spiral of addiction. Some people still feel guilty about things they did in their childhood or during their teenage years. They know the Lord. They know the Bible. They love the Lord, but some still can’t come to believe that God had forgiven them for what they have done in the past. Do you have a big issue like that in your life? Do you sometimes wonder if the Lord has really forgiven you? That's the kind of doubt I'm talking about. If you feel because of bad situations in your life believe that they can never be forgiven. People who are repeatedly drawn back to old corrupt ways of doing things that believe it isn’t possible for them to be forgiven. How you ever had to deal with those types of doubt? Have you ever talked to anybody who had those kinds of doubts?

How would the Lord himself deal with somebody who was having such doubts? We’ll we don't have to guess about that because there is an incident in the scripture where the Lord himself dealt with that type of doubt. What happens I think is very interesting because it can help equip us to help ourselves or even somebody else who struggling with these issues. Join with me as we begin to look at the story of a women called Sarah and the situation described for us in the first half of Genesis chapter 18. The story we’re going to look at over the next 4/5 episodes falls naturally into two parts.

In the 1st part of this story some mysterious men appear. We'll talk about that in a second, but when they appear, Abraham is seen to offers up food and hospitality for them. A lot of the first part of the passage is then given over to describing the preparation of a meal for them. It’s interesting why so much attention is given to just preparing and eating a meal. I suppose an underlying aspect of this story is a powerful reminder of the importance of a ministry of hospitality. A ministry, a gift of the Holy Spirit, in fact, that is often ignored or undervalued by many in the church these days. Hebrews 13 reminds us.

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it”.

(Heb 13:2)

Then the second half of the passage is where an announcement is made when these men declare that Sarah's going to have a son. So, let's go back and begin at the beginning of the text.

“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground”.

(Gen. 18: 1-2)

The strangers in this story really are strangers in the sense of initially being unidentified. Strangers, the word can also be translated as guests. Unusual guests, very strange strangers, but just how unusual we shall discover in the next episode.