Sarah Who Remembered God’s Promise: Women in the Bible Week 1

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Welcome to week 1 of  our Women in the Bible: Beautiful and Brave series! To catch up on the details of the series, you can tune in here. I’m delighted that you are joining us as we explore Sarah, the wife of Abraham. I think Sarah has gotten a bit of a bad rap over the years. I’ve heard many sermons and lessons on Sarah that have discussed her response  upon the news that she would have a child. In Genesis 18, we find the story:

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?”

Prior to this passage, Sarah and Abraham were waiting for the promise of God to be fulfilled. God’s promise was that they would have as many children as the stars. At one point, Sarah got a little ahead of the game and sent her handmaids in to be with Abraham. You know, I can relate to Sarah, because I’m not so great at waiting on God’s timing either. It’s easy to think our human ideas can “help God out a little”, if you know what I mean. So, yes, Sarah gets quite the rap for her issues outlined in Scripture.

But there’s such an incredible nugget of truth tucked in the Bible about Sarah, the first mother of God’s chosen people. Have you ever heard of the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11? Take a look at verse 11:

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

You know, Sarah had her little laugh upholding her doubts about her own physical ability to even get pregnant at her age, but I can’t help but think how brave Sarah was. She was clearly past child-bearing years and her body was thrown into a hormonal tailspin. Many of us women can hardly deal with the normal cycle of monthly hormones; can you imagine a reversal cycle? Seriously!

Since I’ve had 6 babies, I’ve tried to put myself in Sarah’s place. And honestly, I think I might have laughed in her condition also. However, she stopped laughing and took God at his Word. She willingly accepted the hormonal reversal as God’s way of keeping his promise and she knew it could only be him who kept his promise. No one else could have performed such a miracle and there was no mistake about her baby bundle of blessing. Ultimately, she was Sarah who remembered God’s promise.

Believing God’s promises and accepting his delivery method was Sarah’s specialty. There was no FedEx; just Faith.

I wonder what it must have been like for Sarah to experience this unusual physiological process. While there’s no doubt it was miraculous for her to conceive, I have pondered what it must have been like to carry a baby at her age. God must have given her body a total makeover in order to carry a baby for nine months when she was beyond child-bearing years.  Her strength had to come from him; there’s no other explanation. And that’s what I think she would tell us if we had the opportunity for an interview.

So here’s the skinny on Sarah’s beautiful and brave profile:

• Name: Sarah
• Occupation: Homemaker
• Family background: Wife of Abraham, Mother to Isaac
• Daily life: Tent dweller
• Emotional baggage: Self-doubt, Fear, Unbelief
• Weaknesses: Eavesdropping, Laughing inappropriately
• Beauty secret: Believing God, Receptive to his will, Faithful to his promises
• Act of bravery: Accepted a total physiological makeover in order to allow God to fulfill his promise through her, by not only conceiving a child, but carrying him safely through birth. All at 90 years of age!

Sarah certainly inspires me to be one who considers God faithful to keep his promises.

Bloggers, I’m thrilled to have your 100% Christian encouragement  linkups this Whimsical Wednesday. If you have chosen to participate in the Women in the Bible series and link up your post about Sarah, then I plan to choose and highlight one of your posts here on the blog next week.

Rachel