In Genesis 23, we learn that Sarah, Abraham’s wife, has died at the age of 127. She lived a good long life and got to see her son, that she birthed at 90, grow up to be a man. She saw the promises of God fulfilled, even when it seemed impossible. Even though she didn’t live a perfect life, she lived a good life following after the Lord.

Abraham went to his neighbors and asked them if he could buy some land to bury his dead. Remember that he was a foreigner in that place as God had called him much earlier (before Isaac, before Sodom and Gomorrah) to leave his homeland and move away from his family. The neighbors all thought favorably of Abraham, noting his good reputation, and offered the best of their land to him for free.

Abraham was honored but offered to pay for a field and a cave to bury Sarah. He wanted to guarantee the legal rights to the land, understanding that while it was in the land God had promised him and his descendants in Cannan, God had not given him the land yet. Ephron, one of the neighbors, spoke up publicly and insisted that Abraham take the land for free. After some back and forth, Abraham finally got Ephron to accept a price for the land and cave, giving Abraham and his descendants the legal deed to the land.

While Abraham was mourning Sarah and dealing with all that goes into burying a loved one, the hope of God’s promise was not lost on him. Abraham still held on to the promises of God for his life and the lives of his lineage and acted rightly as he mourned.

Hope can still live even in the midst of great loss. God’s promises are not limited to a specific person or thing, for our hope is in Him and His Word. So be encouraged, even when you face loss. God is still there moving you into position to be ready to take up your promises when the time is right.