Sarah: A Lesson In Obedience
| Image Credit: Danichi
Everyone knows the story of Abraham and God’s promise to him. Everyone also knows a thing or two about his sons, Issac and Ishmael. However, we don’t know much about the women behind the scenes – Sarah and Hagar. I aim to shed some light on these two in two separate posts.
A little background: Sarah was the wife and half-sister of Abraham. Her name was originally Sarai, but God later changed her name, along with that of her husband to further solidify His promise to them.
Speaking of the promise, that is the main reason Sarah is a lesson for all women. Sarah shows us women just how much power we have in influencing our men, and with that power comes great responsibility. She also shows us what not to do while waiting on God.
Now all women know that we have a certain power within us that can alter history. This example is best shown when it comes to Sarah. Both Sarah and Abraham knew that God promised them a son and promised them that they would be the ancestors of more people than the stars could count. However, Sarah had so much influence on Abraham that she influenced him to become the father of two nations! But how? It was her lack of faith that did it.
God told the old couple themselves that they would have a child. Of course, that was insanity to Sarah, being that she was old and barren, but she forgot what God said in Genesis 18:14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” I think that she believed, but because He didn’t do it on her time she panicked. As a result, she told Abraham to have a child with Hagar. And I think this is something that all women struggle with – we’re so used to having to be in control all the time that we sometimes go overboard and wind up doing stuff that isn’t even in our job description! Sarah panicked, thinking that God didn’t have it handled and decided to take matters into her own hands.
Now the act of Hagar conceiving a child with Abraham in Sarah’s place was a normal practice of that time. But Sarah forgot that they didn’t have a normal situation. Her mind wasn’t in the mode of Romans 12:2 – “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” God intended her to have a child, not Hagar. And I believe it was a mixture of jealousy and guilt that caused the tension between the women in the first place, even further solidifying the history of the world as a whole(Issac vs Ishmael, Christianity vs. Islam).
We are so hasty to receive our blessings that we go off and out of God’s master plan to obtain that blessing. Then we get mad when we enter the storm that we, ourselves created! Sarah wanted Abraham’s promise to come to pass so bad that, when it didn’t come when she felt it should, she offered up Hagar in her place. Then when what she wanted to happen happened, she got angry and upset, wanting God to intervene and fix the mess she made.
Don’t get me wrong, Sarah was the mother of a great nation, and it was an honor that God saw her fit. But she wasn’t perfect – she made mistakes too. The only thing is that her mistake altered the course of history.
So, ladies, make sure to pay attention to the things that God’s promises you, and hold tight to them. You don’t wanna get too hasty and ruin it for yourself and possibly even the ones who will come after you.
Love you all, and I hope you have a blessed week, in Jesus’ name!
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