Genesis 12, 16-18 & 21; Galatians 4:22-31; Hebrews 11:11
This blog post is an excerpt from the booklet entitled, "Women of the Bible" - Volume 1.
It is written as if Sarah is sharing her heart directly with the reader.
Thank you for allowing the author to use poetic license throughout this article
while seeking to stay true to the Biblical account of Sarah's life.
Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised. - Hebrews 11:11
My name is Sarah which means “Princess.” The Bible says that I was very beautiful. I don’t know about that. Like most women, I had a tendency to dwell on what I was lacking and not on what I had been given. I was childless and did not wish to remain that way throughout my life.
However, because I remained loyal as a wife and did what was right in the end, God ultimately blessed me with a child along with a promise of blessing.
Here is my story. I am a Hebrew woman who obeyed the law and my husband, Abraham. The New Testament speaks about my submission in I Peter, “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.” It wasn’t until age sixty-five, that I began a journey that would lead me into uncharted spiritual territory. Leaving behind our homeland, we moved hundreds of miles south to Canaan. Here I practiced hospitality and was good to those around me. This was a land fertile with the promises of God but barren of everything cherished and familiar to me. We came there with a promise from God that the land belonged to Abraham and his offspring. From him would come not just a family, but an entire nation who would be a people belonging to God as no other.
If Abraham was to father a new nation, surely this meant I would be its mother. Yet I longed to give birth, not to a nation, but to just one child whom I could kiss and cradle.
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife,
thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she
shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. - Genesis 17:15-16
This was not my only burden. Soon a famine made life so severe that we had to move to Egypt. Here, Abraham was fearful of Pharaoh, so he suggested I participate in deceiving the leader. Abraham said I was very beautiful and might be taken from him or worse. He may be killed so that I could belong to the Pharaoh as was the custom in Egypt. The plan was for me to say I was Abraham’s sister when we arrived.
I did as my husband asked, but God was not pleased. He struck Pharaoh and his entire household with diseases. The Egyptian ruler soon summoned Abraham, demanding an explanation. As soon as he heard the truth, he ordered that both of us leave with our spoils.
Things went back to normal in our homeland. The years passed by and still we had no child. In desperation, I took matters into my own hands. Following a practice common in Bible times, I gave Abraham permission to lie with my Egyptian handmaid, Hagar. In my mind, she would be a surrogate mother for our promised child. Sounded like a good plan, right? A baby boy was born and named Ishmael. But this did not solve the problem. As a matter of fact, it only made matters much worse. He was born out of the flesh to a servant and not as the son of promise in the freedom of marriage. I had been impatient. The division my actions caused still exists today.
God did not condone of my plan. He had always wanted to bless Abraham with a son in the bonds of his marriage. He visited Abraham and said that about this time next year, his wife would have a son. I had been eavesdropping on Abraham’s conversation from inside our tent and laughed saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
And the Lord said unto Abraham, “Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? I will return unto thee, and Sarah shall have a son.” I was afraid and denied that I had laughed. But God did not forget.
A year later, at the age of 90, I did in fact give birth to a son named Isaac meaning “laughter.” However, my humor was short-lived. Fireworks flared once again between the two of us mothers until I could bear it no more. I forced Hagar and Ishmael from Abraham's household, sending them to wander in the harsh desert. God provided for them in spite of me, but He allowed Isaac to be the son of promise. Through him, God would bring forth a new nation and the deliverer for His people, the Jews.
I died at the age of 127 and was buried in Hebron. My adventure of trusting the Lord began with a promise and ended with laughter. I am humbled when I realize that God accomplished His purpose despite my dishonesty, my lack of faith, and my self-reliance. My pragmatic attempts to help God keep His promise caused a great deal of anguish that has lasted over 2,000 years.
Looking back, I see my failures but I am eternally gratefully that God showed me mercy. It is recorded in the New Testament that despite it all, God saw my faith and blessed me. I know that God will make all things work together for the good in my family and in yours based upon the promises found in His Word. What a great God we serve!
- Salvation For All People -
From God’s Word we see the son of promise is Sarah’s son, Isaac and not Hagar’s son, Ishmael. We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the reason the Jews and Arabs are at odds today. They both believe the land of Israel belongs to them because of their father Abraham.
Jesus provided a way to fix this problem. Through the Cross, He made a bridge for all to come to God (Jews and Gentiles alike) who will believe. Now through grace, all may be grafted in to the promise of eternal life. Jesus Christ is the only way!
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. - Galatians 3:14
Lessons we can learn from Sarah’s life story:
*It never pays to be impatient and make decisions without seeking God, especially in the flesh when we are emotionally upset.
*Although we step out of God’s will, He is still there. He loves us and wants to bless us in spite of ourselves when we act upon His promises like, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” - Philippians 4:13
*Sin left unconfessed is often repeated which begins patterns of wrong behavior that leads to consequences. We may not reap what we sow right away, but it will meet us down the road.
*Sometimes God answers our fleshly requests. Psalm 106:15 says, "And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." This goes with the saying, “We may get what we want but lose what we have.”
*Remember that God’s timing is not always our timing. Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years until God’s promise was fulfilled.
*In the end, Sarah learned:
Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation:
my God will hear me. - Micah 7:7
Sarah’s Attributes:
*She was obedient to her husband and followed his leading.
*She became productive where God led her.
*She added the beauty of holiness to her outward beauty.
*She learned to trust God even when her flesh did not believe.
*She found out that jealousy causes a person to make wrong decisions based on emotions and not God’s Word.
*She believed God would do what He promised.
Sarah was mentioned in the “Hall of Faith”
because she believed God for a miracle that only He could do.
She judged him faithful who had promised. - Hebrews 11:11
In the end, Sarah not only saw God answer her most earnest prayers for a child, but He also blessed her exponentially by promising that she would be a “mother of nations” and that “kings of people” would come from her.
God always keeps His promises! He blessed her in spite of her mistakes because she turned to Him. What an awesome story of God’s love! How has God blessed you?
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