Sarah

Who better to use as an example of great faith than someone who saw the hand of God over her life? The matriarch herself, Sarah (formerly the lady known as Sarai).

God has promised that he would make Abraham, (originally known as Abram) her husband, a great nation (Genesis 12:2). Genesis 15:5 records that God told Abraham; his offspring will be as numerous as if he were to number the stars in the sky. In other words-a whole lot!

Sarah, impatient to have this child, encourages Abraham to engage in a sexual relationship with her maid servant Hagar. Enter Ishmael in Genesis 16.

We read once again that God tells Abraham, he will be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4) and great kings will come from him (Genesis 17:6). The not so teeny tiny problem? Both were now closer to our grandparents age and the only child in sight was Hagar’s. God talks about establishing a covenant not just with Abram and his offspring but for generations to come (Genesis 17:7) Abraham’s reaction was to burst out laughing!

Years pass with no sign that God’s promise was going to materialize. So often, I read about prolific characters in the Bible and compare how I have not followed their faithful and inspiring example. The truth is, they all had flaws too. Sometimes, those flaws and blunders, by faithful people, makes me feel as if I am staring into a mirror and I’m not so alone in messing up. It’s those flaws that make me take a closer look to examine the similarities.

---

I asked myself the following when reading about Sarah:

Am I patient?

Nothing was harder for me than waiting and being patient. I have found that as I grow older, it became easier to be patient, but that’s probably because I don’t have the energy to take matters into my own hands, rather than a genuine change of heart towards long suffering!

Sarah probably found herself in the same place. Knowing that something good had been promised, but seeing no signs that the promise was going to come to pass. After all, she was too old to have children of her own. Maybe God needed her help to fulfil his word? It the custom of the day and no-one would have found her plan strange or out of place. Offer her husband the maid servant so that any child that was conceived would become hers. The common belief of the day was that a barren woman was somehow cursed. She had committed some act that caused God to forget her. Perhaps her patience faltered because of the stares she received, the whispered words that she could neither forget nor defend. Perhaps seeing other women with babies in their arms was too much for her to bear. A harmless enough plan. Sarah, like many of us, felt she needed to help God’s plan into action. What transpired was a mess and once again, echoing the act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden, this woman’s decision affected all of humanity.

Desperation can cause us to lose sight of God’s hand over our long term plans. Impatience can often cause us to neglect to confer with God about our plans. What do I do while I wait? Am I bringing the situation before the Lord or am I busy with my own plans to help Gods plan come about? Sarah’s plan did not produce good fruit. In fact, it led to disdain, discord, jealousy and contempt. Hagar thumbing her nose at her still barren mistress. Sarah resorting to cruelty until Hagar runs away. Sounding familiar to anyone else right now? Perhaps not down to the exact detail but a situation close enough where it breeds pride, hurt, envy and unkindness. It definitely brings back some bad memories for me, when I was impatient and decided to help the Creator with his plans! Two scriptures helped me address this question in my journey.

Romans 8:25

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Col 3:12

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Not so easy to practice when our human nature seeks instant gratification and instant results. God’s timing is always a concept beyond our grasp. Perhaps the practice of prayer while exercising patience is a way to avoid stepping off course and keeping in line for what we know God has promised us. He is a covenant keeping God. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. Even when the hands of time are causing us stress and anxiety, he is always in control.

---

Do I doubt?

We read of Sarah not just in the Old Testament, but she is mentioned in 1 Peter:3 and is promoted also as an example of a great woman of faith in Hebrews 11:11. Was I missing something in Sarah’s story? This was a lady who handed her maid servant to her husband on a platter and took matters into her own hands, when God’s hand didn’t move according to the timeline she had envisioned.

In Genesis 18, we read again of God’s promise that Sarah would give birth to a son. Sarah, listening in to the conversation between her husband and the Lord, hears that she is going to have a child. Her reaction? To laugh at the very words that held the promise of the great nation God had already said was going to be. Sarah’s gaze was fixed on herself. She even stated the obvious. She was old. She fixed her gaze on Abraham. Who was even older. After all, looking at the natural order of things, Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah herself, probably around 90 years old. She fixed her eyes on what biology told her was going to be impossible. Fixing our eyes on ourselves, humans capable of great failure, will always lead to a less than favourable outcome. She knows Yahweh. She has heard of things he has done. Still, the one thing she desired more than anything was withheld from her, by this same God. Haven’t we all been there? Lost a good business deal and we wonder why God allowed it to happen. Lost a child, or a parent or a spouse and wondered how could God let this happen. We focus on the why did this happen to me and forget that God doesn’t really owe us an answer. The reality is that there will always be limitations to our understanding of God’s ways. If we understood all of his ways, there would be no need of him. Doubt and faith do not exist in isolation of each other. They are both present at any given time. The more we exercise faith, the less room doubt and fear have to show up.

One of the keys to stretch our faith and diminish doubt is to go back to the word of God and remind ourselves of the great men and women of the bible, who had doubt but still had even greater faith. We, unlike Sarah, have the benefit of many other examples in the Bible, who came after her, to encourage us on building our faith.

Think of John the Baptist, who, while in prison, asked, “Is this the Christ?” and Jesus sent his disciples to reassure him with reports of miracles-the deaf and dumb being healed. Think of Peter who stepped out in great faith to walk on water, took his eyes off the Jesus, started to sink but was rescued by the Lord himself. Think of Thomas who refused to believe that Christ was risen, until Jesus appeared to him personally and he touched the scars on Jesus’ hands.

Sometimes we rely on our human senses of taste, touch, smell, and hearing to bring us the answers we want. After all, these are tangible things. Hagar was a tangible way for Sarah to get the child God has promised. For doubt to decrease, we need to let go of the tangible and focus on reality of God’s word. And the word reminds us that we have been created by a supernatural God, who can do supernatural things.

---

Do I cause strife?

No-one wants to have the title ‘Trouble Maker’ attached to their profile. Well-almost no-one. Some people thrive on causing strife while they sit back and watch the fireworks explode. The strife caused in Sarah’s home came because she was prepared to go to any lengths to get this child who had been promised to her. Abrahams entanglement with Hagar came at the prompting of Sarah. It reminded me of Eve in the Garden of Eden where she listened to a voice that was not God’s. Genesis 16:2 tells us that Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah. Once again, God had spoken and once again his creation choose not to listen to his voice. The result was a dysfunctional family with divided loyalties over the children, hidden resentments, jealousy and heartache.

Do we implement our own plans and dishonour God? Sarah’s plan of action did not honour God. Her scheming did not honour God. Her contempt of Hagar did not honour God. Her mistreatment and harshness towards Hagar and her son did not honour God. The strife in the camp was not Gods doing. What a mess. This sounds familiar to me to. Me, causing a mess and God, in his infinite mercy and grace, stepping in to straighten out the mess and still bringing his masterful plan to pass. God stepping in with love and forgiveness to let me know despite the mess, he is still in control.

Of course, a further reading on in Genesis tells us that Sarah did indeed conceive her own child. She gave birth to Isaac, and just as God promised, He kept his covenant to Abrahams offspring for generations to come. He keeps his covenant to you and me as part of those 'generations'. Despite our doubts, despite causing strife, despite being impatient, his plan for our lives will always unfold. May we be prayerfully patient while he does what he does best. Work it out in his time and his way.