RUNNING WITH THE GIANTS | Believe Again Pastor Tomekia Williams

Devotional

Day 1: Dust and Divine Architecture

Abraham left Ur without maps. He pitched tents in Canaan’s dust, trusting a city built by God’s hands. His sandals wore thin while his descendants grew into a nation. Sarah’s empty womb became the cradle of stars. They died still clinging to promises they’d only glimpsed. [04:03]

Faith builds where blueprints end. God designed a homeland Abraham couldn’t sketch, using obedience as mortar. The desert wasn’t emptiness—it was the workshop where nomadic trust forged eternal foundations.

Your “Canaan” might look like a dead-end job or barren diagnosis. Stop calculating exit strategies. What desert are you rushing to pave rather than letting God build?

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
(Hebrews 11:8, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to exchange your need for control for Abraham’s tent-pegs—mobile, ready, anchored in promise.
Challenge: Write down one situation where you’re demanding a blueprint instead of taking the next step.

Day 2: Laughter Behind Tent Flaps

Sarah kneaded dough as angels reset God’s promise. Her snort echoed through camelhair walls—90 years old, nursing? Absurd. Yet the visitors asked, “Why did you laugh?” She denied it, but God named her chuckle. Nine months later, Isaac (“he laughs”) proved holy humor trumps biological clocks. [12:34]

God isn’t threatened by doubtful snickers. Sarah’s laugh became worship when Isaac cooed. Doubt fermented into faith’s bread as she nursed the child of impossibility.

How many God-promises have you buried as “impossible”? Stop editing your prayers to fit reality’s smallness. When did you last laugh at—then with—God’s audacity?

“The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for the Lord?’”
(Genesis 18:13-14, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one “impossible” you’ve stopped praying for, then laugh like Sarah holding Isaac.
Challenge: Text someone: “God just reset His promise to me about ______.” Fill the blank.

Day 3: Hagar’s Shadow in Faith’s Light

Sarah handed Hagar to Abraham. Ishmael’s cries still haunt marriages, churches, and deserts. Every human solution births collateral damage. But God tracked Hagar too, naming her son—He sees. Chaos follows when we force timelines, yet grace pursues our messes. [19:14]

God’s promise survived Sarah’s scheming. Your detours can’t derail His plans—only delay your joy. Ishmaels complicate; Isaacs fulfill.

Where are you playing Hagar—manipulating outcomes, fearing delays? What chaos have you created by rushing God’s “not yet”?

“Sarah said to Abraham, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’”
(Genesis 16:2, NIV)

Prayer: Repent for one “Hagar solution” you’re clinging to instead of waiting for Isaac.
Challenge: Destroy one physical symbol of self-reliance (cancel a panic-driven appointment, delete a compromising contact).

Day 4: Womb-Tombs and Resurrection Faith

Sarah’s body was a tomb—dry bones, menopausal ashes. Yet God called her “mother of nations” before conception. Faith breathes life into dead places, midwifing miracles from apparent graves. Isaac’s first cry resurrected her identity. [23:07]

God names you by your future, not your failures. Sarah’s wrinkled skin stretched over hope, proving faith births where biology buries.

What “dead” area have you stopped speaking life over? When did you last declare God’s promise despite visible decay?

“By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.”
(Hebrews 11:11, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for three “dead” areas He’s resurrecting, even if you see no movement yet.
Challenge: Sing a worship song over your most barren situation today.

Day 5: Swaddling Clothes of Joy

Isaac’s birth stripped Sarah’s mourning clothes. Laughter replaced barrenness’s sackcloth. Psalm 30’s promise—mourning becoming dancing—fits those who outlive their despair. Her milk-stained robe became a banner: God keeps His word. [30:33]

Joy comes not when promises arrive, but when we stop counting graves. Sarah’s faith didn’t create the miracle—it midwifed it.

What mourning garments are you still wearing despite God’s new season? Who needs to hear your “Isaac story” to fuel their wait?

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.”
(Psalm 30:11, NLT)

Prayer: Ask God to replace one garment of disappointment with specific joy today.
Challenge: Give away an item symbolizing past pain (a medical bill, divorce paper copy) as faith declaration.

Sermon Summary

Hebrews 11 names faith as confidence in what is hoped for and assurance about what is not seen, and the text insists that faith is the language of heaven. God is unseen, yet God sees; so to please the unseen God, the text requires faith, not mere effort. Enoch’s life says it straight: heaven gave him a standing ovation because he walked with God by faith. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah rise as ancients whose lives preach that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him, even when the work looks foolish in the moment.

Abraham’s obedience becomes a map: he goes without knowing, lives as a stranger, and looks for a city whose architect and builder is God. The promise runs like a river through generations, touching Isaac and Jacob, which makes faith a family event, an inheritance that can be handed down like a recipe. The story will not let Sarah be background. God spoke to Abraham, but God had Sarah in mind. A father of many nations cannot arrive without a woman’s womb, so Sarah is drafted into the promise. Their detour through Hagar shows what happens when people try to help God. Disobedience births chaos. Rushing a promise creates problems that outlive the moment.

Genesis 18 shows God coming to reset the word, because God’s promises are yes and amen. Sarah overhears heaven’s timeline, laughs from a worn-out place, and the question from God meets her laughter: Is anything too hard for the Lord? Doubt does not disqualify; God works past it. God even changes names, Abraham and Sarah, because new identity stretches capacity for promise. Real faith sometimes waits until natural possibilities are gone so only raw faith is left. Faith comes by hearing, so those who want to give birth to what God has spoken must eat the word until faith swells. The witnesses in Hebrews 12 then call the church to throw off what entangles and run with endurance, fixing eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Flawed faith is not the finish. Jesus perfects it.

The Lord is gracious to His people. Sarah conceives Isaac, and the one who laughed at the word laughs with the word. God gets the last laugh. The text finally pushes toward testimony: a story can still end in joy. God turns mourning into dancing and pain into praise, but it must be done by faith.

Key Takeaways

1. Faith pleases the unseen God Faith is heaven’s language, not superstition. Hebrews 11 demands trust that banks on God’s character when God cannot be seen and circumstances do not add up. Enoch’s commendation shows that proximity to God is measured by faith, not religious polish. Approaching God as real and rewarding reshapes motives, risks, and endurance. [01:35]
2. Faith is a family inheritance Abraham’s tent life tells children what foundations look like, and the promise spills from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob. Faith can be modeled, named, and bequeathed like a recipe that keeps feeding generations. Households formed by promise learn to travel light, obey fast, and aim for a city God builds. [04:21]
3. Rushing God’s plan breeds chaos Hagar was a shortcut that multiplied sorrow. Whenever disobedience tries to hurry God, jealousy, fracture, and confusion come trailing behind. Patience is not passivity; it is agreement with God’s pace so that the promise arrives without the collateral damage of human fixes. [19:14]
4. God resets promises and laughter Genesis 18 is a reset, not a rewind; God steps back into the story and reaffirms what He said. Doubt can snicker, but the Lord asks, Is anything too hard? Name-changes expand capacity, and in due season Isaac arrives. When God performs the impossible, the last word is joy, and the house fills with holy laughter. [28:42]
5. Jesus perfects flawed, shaky faith Faith can stall, calculate, or resist, but Hebrews calls eyes to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter. He authors faith and then tutors it through losses, delays, and confusing turns. What starts as fragile trust is completed by His steady hand, not by human bravado. [07:00]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:33] - Faith is heaven’s language
[01:09] - Enoch pleased God by faith
[03:10] - Believe He exists and rewards
[03:32] - Noah warned about unseen things
[04:03] - Abraham obeyed and sojourned
[04:21] - Faith is a family event
[05:26] - Sarah enabled beyond childbearing
[06:28] - Surrounded by a cloud of witnesses
[07:00] - Fix eyes on Jesus
[08:18] - Women are in God’s plan
[10:18] - Abraham’s fear and Sarah’s beauty
[12:34] - God works past doubt
[16:20] - Sarah laughs at the promise
[18:07] - Do not help God’s plan
[19:14] - Rushing births unnecessary problems
[20:33] - God remembers His promise
[22:50] - New names for new capacity
[23:30] - Faith that gives birth
[24:50] - Eat the word to build faith
[25:56] - Worn out becomes readiness
[28:06] - Sarah gives birth and laughs
[30:11] - Your story can end in joy
[30:44] - Mourning turned to dancing
[30:57] - Benediction and Mother’s Day

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Hebrews 11:1-3 (ESV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Genesis 18:9-15 (ESV)
They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 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. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord 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 hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

Observation Questions

According to Hebrews 11:1, how is faith defined, and what two aspects does it involve?
In Genesis 18:12-15, how does Sarah respond to God’s promise, and what does God’s question (“Is anything too hard for the Lord?”) reveal about His character?
Hebrews 12:1-2 urges believers to “run with endurance.” What specific actions are required to do this, and who is highlighted as the ultimate example of faith?

Interpretation Questions

Why might faith be called “heaven’s language” in the context of Hebrews 11? How does this contrast with relying on human effort or visible results?
Sarah’s laughter in Genesis 18 reflects doubt, yet God still fulfills His promise. What does this suggest about how God interacts with human imperfection?
The “cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1 includes flawed individuals like Abraham and Sarah. How does their inclusion encourage believers facing doubts or delays in their own faith journeys?

Application Questions

Faith is described as a “family inheritance” that can be modeled and passed down. What specific practices or stories could you share with your family or community to cultivate this legacy? [04:21]
Reflect on a time when you tried to “help God” by rushing His plan (like Sarah with Hagar). What chaos resulted, and how might patience have changed the outcome? [19:14]
The sermon emphasizes “eating the word” to build faith. What is one practical way you can consistently engage with Scripture to strengthen your trust in God’s promises? [24:50]
Sarah’s laughter turned from doubt to joy when Isaac was born. Where in your life do you need to shift from skepticism to expectancy, trusting that “God gets the last laugh”?
Hebrews 12:1-2 calls believers to “throw off” hindrances. What “weight” or habit is currently entangling you, and what step could you take this week to release it?
How might changing your perspective on a delayed promise (like Abraham and Sarah’s name changes) help you embrace a new season of faith? [22:50]
The sermon states, “Flawed faith is not the finish.” How can you lean into Jesus as the “perfecter of faith” in an area where your trust feels shaky or incomplete? [07:00]

Sermon Clips

27s

“Sometimes, god will change your identity to prepare you to start believing for what he has promised you. Oh god, can I drop this on you? Sometimes, we're not ready. We're not ready to receive what God has for us because we don't have the faith capacity to give birth to it. The title of my message, I never gave it to you, is faith that gives birth to what God has spoken.”

39s

“God had given listen, that's why I say faith is a family event. It's a generational thing. You can leave your children an inheritance of faith. Are you with me? It said that first God had come to Abraham and gave him this promise and then he turns around and give the same promise to who? Isaac his son and the same promise to who? Isaac's son, who? Jacob which is Abraham's grandson. Faith can be passed down. Just like a recipe. Gosh!”

38s

“The instructions that he gave the man had her in mind. And so therefore, when he is talking to Abraham, by golly he's talking to Sarah. Sarah, you are part of God's plan. He tells her, he tells Abraham, you're going to become a father of many nations. He says, and through you families of earth will be blessed. Well, how would they get there Abraham? Sarah have got to be part of God's plan.”

17s

“I'm not gonna be a mom. I've I've I've digested it. I've resolved it within. How many times we get disappointed with God when the promise hasn't made its way to us by the time we expect for it to come. And then we kind of settle in on our faith. You ever been there?”

Ask a question about this sermon

Hope City Church This sermon · AI assistant

What is the biblical definition of faith?

How can faith be passed down generationally?

Why should we resist helping God's plan?

RUNNING WITH THE GIANTS | Believe Again Pastor Tomekia Williams

Devotional

Day 1: Dust and Divine Architecture

Day 2: Laughter Behind Tent Flaps

Day 3: Hagar’s Shadow in Faith’s Light

Day 4: Womb-Tombs and Resurrection Faith

Day 5: Swaddling Clothes of Joy

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

RUNNING WITH THE GIANTS | Believe Again Pastor Tomekia Williams

Share