In Junior high he went to try out and his coach told him to sit in the stands…. You are too short.
Cut from his Junior year of BB and had to talk his coach into keeping him. He scored 20 points his first game.
No Div. 1 college would even look at him. So he had to play at Midland College- lead them to a national JR league Championship, then got a scholarship to NC state.
Every NBA scout scoffed. They said maybe he could play overseas or if he was lucky he could play with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Every NBA team passed on him multiple times…
He fell to the fifth round and was drafted by the Detroit pistons… and cut before the season ever started.
He was “lucky” enough to be signed as an undrafted free agent by the Atlanta Hawks… At that time his star teammate Dominique Williams was the Slam dunk Champion… spud entered the contest and Dominique said he thought it was a joke and he would do layups… Spud won with numerous 360 slams, dunks off the backboard and Reverse slam dunks….
He credits his belief in knowing God gave him that talent for a reason, and that dream for a purpose.
My question today is: How will you respond when people laugh at your dream?
Gen 18:1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth
3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,5 while I bring a morsel of 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.”6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly.8 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.9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”10 The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
Rather than just "inappropriate" or "disrespectful," biblical scholars and linguists often look at Sarah’s reaction in Genesis 18:12 through a few distinct lenses:
Incredulity captures a mix of disbelief, shock, and impossibility. Sarah was roughly 90 years old, well past childbearing age, and had dealt with a lifetime of infertility. Hearing a stranger tell Abraham she would have a baby by the following year sounded biologically absurd.
Abraham lives in a Spiritual and Theological worldview…
Sarah lives in a physical biological world view…
2. Sarcastic (or Cynical)
In Hebrew, Sarah’s inner monologue reads as a self-deprecating scoff: "After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?" Describing her reaction as sarcastic or cynical highlights the defense mechanism of a woman who had likely given up hope decades prior and saw the statement as a cruel taunt or bad joke.
Her reaction was deeply human. It wasn't necessarily a malicious rebellion against God; it was an involuntary emotional slip—a defense mechanism triggered by years of grief, trauma, and disappointment over her barrenness.
In the broader arc of Genesis, her laughter is viewed as prophetic or foreshadowing. The Hebrew root for laugh (tzachaq) is the exact root used for the name of the child God promises: Isaac (Yitzchak), which literally means "he laughs" or "laughter". What began as the laugh of doubt in Genesis 18 transforms into the laugh of joy and wonder when Isaac is born in Genesis 21: "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me".
Key takeaway: While her response is often labeled as "disbelief," calling it incredulous or sarcastic better captures her emotional reality, while calling it prophetic reveals the literary wordplay embedded in the text.
MAYBE OUR REACTION SHOULD MATCH *TO SOME DEGREE …SARAHS…
WHY WOULD GOD USE ABRAHAM A MAN OF MANY FAULTS?
Failure 1: Deception in Egypt
The Misstep: When a severe famine strikes Canaan, Abram migrates to Egypt without seeking divine direction. Fearing the Egyptians will kill him for his beautiful wife, he asks Sarai to lie and say she is his sister.
The Fallout: Pharaoh takes Sarai into his royal palace as a concubine while enriching Abram. God strikes Pharaoh’s household with severe plagues. Upon discovering the truth, Pharaoh rebukes Abram for his deceit and expels his family from Egypt.
Separation from Lot & Rescue
As their livestock herds grow too large for the land to support both of them, quarreling breaks out between Abram's and Lot's herdsmen. Abram generously gives Lot first pick WITHOUT SEEKING GOD - Lot gets captured.
The Unconditional Covenant
Abram voices concern that he remains childless and his servant Eliezer will inherit his house. God reassures Abram that a biological son will be his heir and cuts a formal covenant with him, promising descendants as numerous as the stars.
Failure 2: Scheming with Hagar
The Misstep: After living in Canaan for ten years without a child, Sarai proposes that Abram take her Egyptian servant, Hagar, as a surrogate mother. Abram agrees without seeking God's guidance, taking matters into his own hands to force the fulfillment of the promise.
The Fallout: Once Hagar becomes pregnant, domestic conflict erupts. Hagar despises Sarai, Sarai mistreats Hagar, and Abram washes his hands of the dispute. Hagar flees into the wilderness before an angel instructs her to return. She gives birth to Ishmael when Abram is 86.
The Covenant of Circumcision & Abraham's Internal Doubt
The Moment of Disbelief: After 13 years of silence, God appears, renames Abram to Abraham ("Father of a Multitude") and Sarai to Sarah ("Princess"), and institutes circumcision as the covenant sign. When God explicitly states that Sarah herself will bear a son within a year, Abraham falls face down and laughs to himself, asking mentally: "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at ninety?" (Gen 17:17).
The Three Visitors at Mamre & Sarah's Laugh
Three divine visitors visit Abraham under the oaks of Mamre. The Lord repeats the divine pledge: "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Overhearing this from inside the tent entrance, Sarah laughs to herself, thinking about her advanced age and physical state. When the Lord asks why she laughed and whether anything is too hard for God, Sarah denies it out of fear, but the Lord responds: "No, you did laugh."
MAYBE SARAH IS LAUGHING KNOWING WHO HER HUSBAND REALLY IS?
BECAUSE EVEN AFTER THIS VISITATION FROM GOD….
King Abimelech (Genesis 20:1–18)
Pattern in Abraham's Failures
Across these 24 years, Abraham's missteps shared a common theme: self-preservation and impatience.
BUT LETS ASK OURSELVES A QUESTION:
Regardless of how Sarah saw her husband Abraham - regardless of how we see him… How did God see him?
Names and Titles Given to Abraham
The Promises and Blessings Spoken Over Him
SARAH MAY HAVE LAUGHED AT FIRST IN DISBELIEF - BUT
3. Sarah's later reversal is the untold "second half" of the story. But Genesis 21:6 gives Sarah's own commentary once Isaac is born: "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." She takes the very word she used in doubt and reclaims it in worship. Isaac's name literally means "he laughs." This is a remarkable narrative arc — cynical laughter transformed into worshipful laughter —
WHY DID GOD CHOOSE ABRAHAM?
IN SPITE OF ALL HIS FLAWS HE PRACTICED GODS HEART AND DESIGN FOR PRAYER.
Gen. 18 later in the chapter God tells Abraham I am going to destroy Sodom and Gomorra and Abraham does something very familiar according to Luke 11.
Luke 11 tells us how to pray - AFTER SHARING THE LORDS PRAYER JESUS SAYS SOMETHING AWKWARD ABOUT PRAYER - A parable.
A man goes to his friends house - he needs 3 loaves of bread… he will not give up asking.
If you ask seek knock - out of sheer perseverance I will answer!
Abraham here in Gen. 18 does just that for Sodom and Gomorra - showing Gods heart for the lost.
I believe one of the greatest clues is given in these two stories in scripture about who God uses!
The one that will not give up asking God to fulfill his purpose!
WHAT IF WE UNDERSTOOD THE STORY OF ABRAHAM LIKE THIS:
Yes he was a heap of missteps, failures, a massive example of weak humanity….
But in all his mistakes and failures he never quit asking God for that son!
FOR THAT ANSWERED PRAYER.
WILL YOU BE THE ONE WHO P.U.S.H.es into God.
