Hello Cariad Ladies
I would like to share a few thoughts on one of the most famous women in the Old Testament - Sarah.
To be honest, from years of hearing and reading the stories of Abraham and Sarah, I realised that I had formed quite a negative view of Sarah so I came to studying Sarah with a bit of a negative filter. BUT having looked closely at what we are told from the word of God I was really challenged to rethink.
Sarah's highlights are worked out between Genesis 11 and Genesis 23 and it's a terrific story and well worth reading to refresh your memory.
Before re-reading these passages I wanted to jot down what was in my memory about Sarah and here was what I had come up with:
1) Sarah laughed with unbelief when she was told by God's 'messengers' that she would have a baby in her old age, fathered by her even older husband
2) She got a bit fed up waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise to and decided to take matters into her own hands
3) She was particularly beautiful and a couple of male leaders ( Pharaoh and Abimelech) want to claim her for themselves. Sarah is complicit in covering up that she is actually married to Abraham. ( Basically Abraham is worried that if she said she was actually his wife that he would be killed so that Pharoah and later Abimelech can have Sarah for themselves) We read later that they are in fact half brother and sister as well as husband and wife.
4) She's mean-spirited to Hagar her servant and despises her when Abraham gets her pregnant and gets her sent away.
Perhaps reading these things you can understand why I had a bit of a negative filter going on towards Sarah.
But Sarah's mentions in the Bible do not stop in the old testament. Sarah gets a mention in Hebrews 11, the chapter well known for listing the 'greats in the faith'.
When we read Sarah's backstory we find that she is just quite 'human' in her reactions but still has been woven into the rich tapestry of Bible history. Having human reactions do not rule us out in God's eyes. He knows our frame and remembers we are dust (Psalm 103:13-14)
So many things fed into Sarah's experiences of life. In the culture of Sarah's time, being barren would have been hard to bear on many different levels, as it continues to be in our own culture. Sarah would have had to deal with many emotions around her barren state that would have had a profound effect on her day to day life. The yearning and longing to have a child becomes all consuming and she suggests to Abraham that he uses her maidservant 'so that perhaps through her I can build a family'. I can't help thinking that this might have been an off the cuff suggestion that perhaps Sarah didn't really expect Abraham to act on and once it comes out of her mouth she has to see it through. But Abraham readily agrees and that probably caused more hurt for Sarah. Perhaps Sarah thought that Abraham would be against the plan as he knows that God has a different plan. It quickly turns into a blame game (Genesis 16 v 5) as so many situations like this so often do.
Isn't it true that sometimes we make the wrong choices trying to get to the right places? Giving God a 'helping hand' because we are impatient to wait for Him to move on our behalf is truly a false economy. They end up with an Ishmael in the mix rather than waiting for the fulfillment of the promise (Isaac). Even today as I write this we are dealing with the results of this choice in the Middle East.
If we are honest ladies we would all, had we been in Sarah's situation, had a wee chortle if we had been told we would have a baby so late on with our husband who is described as ' half dead' or 'almost dead'. I think that years ago when I was more religious, I would have fooled myself into thinking I would never have laughed at so holy a moment but in reality I probably would have. We see a little touch of this with Mary the mother of Jesus when the angel appears to her. She questions, but how can this be seeing that I am a virgin?
Even now, at 50 years of age, I would get a bit of a shock if the Lord said after all this time I would get pregnant. I would probably do more than laugh to be fair. I'd have some major adjusting to do if that happened, just saying! I'm not sure what my husband would say to be fair. 🤣
But God's promises and plans come to pass and are not dependent on our opinions or circumstances - thank you Jesus!
I remember God profoundly speaking to me around a situation that I was trying to work out in my own strength. His words to me were clear and strong. He told me, ' Things put together in the flesh will be an Ishmael round your neck!' Wow! When God tells you to stop doing things in your own strength and to stop leaning on your own understanding rather than depending on Him and the leading of the Holy Spirit you really have to take notice.
I wonder if God is speaking to you about something you are pursuing that is not of Him? Why not decide to surrender your will to Jesus. To be willing to lay down the 'good' in order to be given the 'best'. Let us be women full of wisdom who want God's will for our our lives and intentionally seek to have Jesus first and foremost on the throne of our hearts.
I have barely scratched the surface of Sarah's life but I hope that you will be persuaded to read all about her in the word and ask God what He is saying to you through her life. If we learn anything from the life of Sarah, let's ask the Lord to help us stay on His path and not try to do things our way. That takes both faith and patience and of course a huge dollop of trust in the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment