Femme Fridays--Sarah

Genesis 17:15-19 King James Version (KJV)

15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

16 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.

17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

The story of Sarah is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. There are so many lessons that can be learned from her. The story wasn't even really about her. It was about Abraham. God was having a conversation with Abraham not Sarah when the information was originally disclosed, but God did eventually speak to Sarah about the matter. 

The main reason I love this story so much is because there are no limits to what God can do. Sarah was 90, and Abraham was 100. That alone speaks for itself. Most people don't live to be that old. I can literally count on 1 finger the people I know who lived that long (R.I.P. to my Granny Ruth). Not only were they living but they were in good health. Then, God said Sarah was going to have a child. She was way past childbearing years. She was way past menopause, to be honest. Sarah even laughed at the thought of having a child. God's response was is there anything too hard for God? 

Look at your life and circumstances and ask yourself "Is there anything too hard for God?" Despite everything that man would say, God is still able. When I was younger, I used to think that God didn't do things like He did in the many stories in the Bible. I was convinced. I had never heard of people being thrown into a fire and living. I've never seen people being raised from the dead. I've never seen somebody thrown in a lions' den and live. I may have not seen God do any of those things, but I have seen God heal my body, pay my rent when I didn't have a job, He's saved my aunt's life from a fire, and He's done so much more. And He's still doing for me even when I don't deserve it. 

Another reason I love this story is that teaches me about the one area that I really really struggle with: patience. Sarah was ninety years old. She was old enough to have great great and maybe even great great great grandchildren, but she didn't have a child. Honestly, I believe that Sarah wanted a child, and I say that for a couple reasons. She allowed Hagar to come into the house, she allowed Hagar to give Abraham a child, and not only did she allow all of that to happen, but she allowed the child to stay in their home (I'll talk about that whole debacle in another post). She wanted to give Abraham a child, but she couldn't so she allowed someone else to do for him what she couldn't. That's a different type of love that I will never want to be able to understand on a personal level. 

Sarah had to have a relationship of God on her own. She feared Him. That's why she said wasn't laughing even though God already knew what was up. I believe that once Sarah got past child bearing years, she gave up on giving Abraham a child. She feared God, but I believe she thought it wasn't in God's plans for her to have a child. Had that not been the case, Ishmael would not have been born. But the Bible says

Psalm 37:4 King James Version (KJV)

4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Even though biologically speaking, it was impossible for her to have a child, she knew about a possible God that came to her and told her Himself that he was going to do it. It wasn't an email. It wasn't a DM. It wasn't a dream or subliminal message. He came to her face to face and reminded her just who He really was. He had to lowkey check her for disrespecting Him.  She had been waiting on God, and she thought it would never happen. She had given up on the possibility. But she still had a relationship with God. She had to. There's not way she would've been so sensitive to His presence. 

Things may look a little meek right now. It may seem like your back is against the wall and you've ran out of options. Nevertheless, trust Him completely and believe that He will come through.