This post is a continuation of our influential women on the Bible series and is dedicated to Sarah: the wife of Abraham, the mother of Isaac (spoiler alert), and a faithful woman of the Lord. The story of Sarah (in a nut shell) goes like this.. Sarah came from status and money, but left all that she knew to marry Abraham and follow him to a land that "God would show them." This in itself was a huge act of faith on Sarah's part. Can you imagine leaving all that you knew- your position, your family, your wealth, all for an unknown future in an unknown place? As it turns out, the next part of their journey proved difficult with famine, moving to new places, and her own husband offering her to an Egyptian ruler (whole different story we won't go into here).
Now to the part of the story you have likely heard a million times. God promised Abraham would become the father of many nations, but after years and years and years of no baby bump, Sarah learned she was barren. How heartbreaking this must have been for her. Sarah endured so much to follow Abraham all due to her faith in the Lord, but was left confused as how exactly He would keep His promise when she could not seem to conceive and was only getting older and older.
Finally, after decades (yes, decades!) of waiting, Genesis 21 tells us that the Lord kept His promise and gave Sarah and Abraham a son. Isaac was born to Sarah when she was 90 years old and Abraham was 100! Now that is something I cannot imagine! I feel exhausted keeping up with my one year old, I can't imagine doing it at Sarah's age. But Sarah felt nothing but joy at the blessing God had given her. And she made sure to tell others of His good work in her life.
I have included the scripture regarding God's promise to Abraham below. There is something about reading God reveal His plan to humans that can't quite comprehend the logistics of it but knowing that He will in fact keep His end of the deal.
1 "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, 'I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.'
Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 'As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.'
15 "God also said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.'
Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, 'Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?' And Abraham said to God, 'If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!'
Then God said, 'Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.[d] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.' When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him."
Genesis 17: 1-8, 15-22
We can learn so much from Sarah and her story. The amount of faith she showed time and time again is so inspiring to me. She followed God's voice even when it didn't make sense, even when it meant insane hardship, and even when it meant years and years and years of waiting on a promise not knowing if it would ever be fulfilled. Sarah trusted in God's faithfulness, even when she didn't necessarily feel it.
We get so impatient waiting on the Lord. A lot of times, waiting on the Lord feels emotional and hard and five minutes feels like ten years. Like, can't you just answer our prayers now? Can't you just fulfill your promise this very minute, Lord? Can't you show us the answers like tomorrow, not on your time?
Have you ever felt that? I'm sure Sarah did too at times, yet she continued to wait on the Lord and trust in HIS timing, even when that meant not becoming pregnant until she was 90 years old! I strive to have the patience and trust of Sarah when I find myself in seasons of waiting on the Lord. Wait on the Lord, His way is best and He will not fail.
My prayer for you this week:
God, thank you so much for the person reading this. Thank you for your faithfulness and your fulfilled promises to us. Thank you for giving us stories like Sarah's to learn from and to show us your goodness and faithfulness to us. I pray you give us the strength to endure waiting on you, even when it is hard and the timing doesn't make sense to us. God, we trust you and we love you and I pray we can live that out this week, showing others to your goodness. Amen.
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