Sarah –

“Is anything too hard for God?” This is the reassuring question that God asks of Sarai in the midst of her disbelief. A mighty declaration of His omnipotence is exactly what she needed in her moment of hopelessness. With the warmth of a Father and the power of the Almighty He reminds a dejected and heartbroken Sarai that with Him all things are possible. (Gen 18V14, Matthew 19 v26) 

Many of us know Sarai as Sarah, the wife of Abraham. But the pioneer couple that God called out of their homeland into a land where He would give them generations as numerous as the stars in the sky started off as Abram and Sarai. Abraham is well adored by Christians and lovingly referred to as the father of all believers. Intertwined and perhaps often lost in the magnificent story of Abraham’s journey with God, is the account of Sarah. This week, we hold a magnifying glass up to this amazing woman of the Bible.

Sarai, was married to her half-brother Abram (Gen 20 v12) and living in Haran, when God called Abram out of their homeland into a land that He would show him with a promise that He’d make him a great nation. So, at 65, Sarai packed up their belongings, said good-bye to their family and friends, and followed her husband into the unknown. I wonder how this went down. Did she fight Abram to stay back? Did she question the authenticity of the calling upon his life? Did she remind him that they had no children and moving away would mean growing old and dying alone? Did she suggest that she’d stay back while Abram followed God’s calling? I’ve had to move multiple times now, at the word of my husband. And every time it’s been painful. Honestly, it is hard to follow another one’s dream or calling. But Sarai taught me to think differently about this. We read last week, of how God created the first woman. “I will make him a helper fit for him,” said the Lord as He created Eve for Adam (Gen 2 v 18). Sarai understood that God’s calling upon Abram’s life was the calling upon her life. Being his wife meant his helper in the mission they were called to. And every single account we have in the Bible attests to the fact that she humbly and sacrificially helped and submitted to her husband throughout her life. This is hard for us, women living in 2021, to understand and live out this divine mission. The culture has successfully distorted our thinking to match its lesser purpose for the wife. I’ve heard many frustrated wives express of their husbands ‘I wasn’t born to serve him”. I personally have and still struggle with this. So, it is with all understanding and complete humility that I challenge this thinking. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5 v 22, ‘Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord”. By submitting to our husbands, we are submitting to the Lord’s will. If you’re listening to me and struggle with this, as I do, let me encourage you – Just because you struggle with the idea of submission it doesn’t mean you should give up all hope of acting in submission. The whole premise of a disciple of Christ is to act as per His will despite our desires. Be hopeful. God strengthens us to obey Him even when we can’t of our own will.  

Let’s return to the story. Not long after they left home, a famine came upon the land and Abram and Sarai had to flee to Egypt for relief. Abram needed Sarai’s help. He knew he’d be killed for the sake of her beauty, so that the Pharoah could have her. So, Abram told Sarai to say she was his sister. And surely enough Abram was spared while Sarai was taken to the Pharoah’s chambers. At first read or perhaps a shallow read, we may hate Abram for such a request. What a horrible thing to ask of your wife! And she did it! We have no account of Sarai fighting back! My blood boils when I read this story. But, God quickly reminds me that this book, the Bible, is an honest account of what living in a broken world with fallen people looks like, and I can move past the atrocity of Abram’s ask to the part where God intervenes and battles on behalf of the injustice done to Sarai.  He strikes Pharoah and his household with great plagues on her account. Pharoah sends Sarai back to Abram. It may seem that Abram got away with such an outrageous act. But while in Egypt, Pharoah had lavished Abram with gifts, on behalf of Sarai. Among these gifts – the Egyptian slave, Hagar.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, let me tell you about Hagar. When Abram and Sarai left Egypt they settled in Canaan. It is here that God made a covenant with Abram promising the land to his future generations. Sarai was weary of waiting. She had lost all hope of ever bearing a child. Perhaps in a moment of weakness, more likely after considerable contemplation, she offered up her Egyptian servant, Hagar, as a wife to Abram, so that Hagar could bear a child for him. (Gen 16 v 3) Abram, listened to her. Hagar conceived and looked with contempt upon Sarai. Unable to bear the hurt and disgrace, Sarai dealt harshly with Hagar and even while very pregnant Hagar fled the place. The Lord, on account of Abram (Gen 17 v 20), appeared to Hagar in the wilderness and directed her to return and submit to Sarai, promising her that He would multiply her offspring. Hagar returned to Sarai and bore a son, whom she named Ishmael, as per God’s instruction. When you get the time you should read up on Ishmael and his future generations and the grave cost of this very desperate mistake made by Abram and Sarai.

About 13 years after Ishmael was born God appeared to Abram again. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham and promised to make Abraham a father of a multitude of nations. Then comes this beautiful passage starting in Chapter 17 v 15, where the Lord tells Abraham about His covenant being fulfilled through Sarah alone. Yes, it is in this conversation that the Lord changes Sarai’s name to Sarah. He instructs Abraham that he must call her Sarah from this moment on because she is blessed to become nations and bear kings. Abraham’s heart is exposed as he laughs at the prospect of this happening and pleads with God that Ishmael be the one who fulfills the covenant. But God says NO and that His everlasting covenant is for the son that Sarah will bear. I imagine this as a light-bulb moment for Abraham – That the calling upon his life is not his alone and the covenant that was made was not with him alone. God sees husband and wife as one. Another important lesson we learn through Sarah’s story. When she saw her husband as worthy of something that God did not give her, she made the grave mistake of coming up with her own plan through Hagar. And when Abraham excluded Sarah, in seeking the fulfillment of the covenant through Ishmael, God outright refuses.  Such a great lesson on how God views marriage. Know that in God’s eyes within the covenant of marriage, there is nothing for one that is not for both and what is for both should be cherished by each.

The Lord, then, makes it a point to make this promise in the presence of Sarah. He makes a personal visit to the couple, in the form of three men. They specifically ask of Sarah’s whereabouts and in an earshot of her, the Lord makes the promise to visit exactly a year from then and that she would bear a son. Sarah laughs to herself. Understandably so. After all the Bible itself verifies that “the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah”. That’s just a fancy and delicate way of saying that she was postmenopausal. But the Lord checks her. “Why did Sarah laugh?” the Lord asks Abraham of Sarah who was behind the tent door. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” He said. Sarah denied laughing because she was suddenly filled with fear. Perhaps this is a moment in her faith journey where she realizes that despite her unbelief, the one who promised is worthy of her faith and trust.

But Abraham finds himself in a fix again. In a situation of being at the mercy of another, he introduced Sarah as his sister to preserve himself. She willingly complied, againand was led to the chambers of the King of Gerar, Abimelech. But, the Lord would have none of it. This time even before the King could lay a finger on her, the Lord threatened him with a death sentence and his wife and all her female servants were stricken with barrenness. You see, she is no longer Sarai. She is Sarah, the covenant daughter of the Lord, filled with His purpose for His glory. And with this came His divine protection over her. Another extraordinary lesson we learn from Sarah’s life – The Lord’s protection is over His children at all times. We have no need to fear. His purposes will be fulfilled in your life even when your spouse is acting against it.

As He had promised, the Lord appeared to Sarah at His appointed and promised time and at the age of 90 she bore a son, whom she named Isaac. God will fulfill His word. There is no question about it. If he can make a 90 yr old postmenopausal woman bear a healthy baby boy, what can He not do. If you are in a season of waiting in your life, any kind of waiting, may this story fill you with awe. His purpose for you is established and will come to pass. Even when the earth and the heavens pass away, His word remains (Matthew 24 v 35).

Sarah died at the age of 127 and is fondly commemorated as a woman of great faith, even making it to the “Hall of Faith” that appears in the book of Hebrews. It says, “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.” (Hebrews 11 v 11,12)

What a legacy! Sarah was by no means perfect. She literally laughed in the face of God. But you see, God was faithful in preserving her in the promise He made. This is the amazing God we serve. Is there indeed anything too hard for God?

I hope that Sarah’s story will help you look to God with renewed hope and faith.