Why did God's promise to Abraham and Sarah still come true after they lost sight of it?
God's promise to Abraham and Sarah still came true because it rested on God's own declaration, not on their continued focus. God had said 'I will,' making it a promise that He would fulfill. Since God is eternal and not bound by time, their losing sight of it could not cancel what He had spoken.
Les explains that when God said, 'I will,' it was a promise, and even though Abraham and Sarah may have lost sight of it, it was still God's promise and it was going to happen. Abraham had asked that Ishmael might live before God, but God said Sarah would bear a son and call his name Isaac. Les compares this to the promises concerning Israel: God has promised to return and be their king and give them the kingdom, and it will happen because God has said it. Man doesn't go on God's timetable and gets impatient, but with God, who is eternal, time doesn't mean anything. Les notes he has waited twenty years for the Lord to call us up, yet twenty years in God's timing isn't even a split second. God also said He would establish His covenant with Isaac for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him.
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
More Questions
What was God's promise to Abraham about Sarah bearing a son?
When God told Abraham that Sarah would bear a son and he would be called Isaac, that was a promise.