Walking In Sarah’s Sandals
Having been raised on the stories of the Old Testament it’s easy to gloss over them, missing the great truths tucked inside, or, worse yet, to read with a rather judgmental attitude and tsk-tsk at the foolish mistakes “those people” made way back then.
A wise teacher once encouraged me to put myself into the familiar stories – to imagine myself right there in the midst of their circumstances. So today, let’s take off our comfy flats and slip into the sandals of Sarai – or as God later renamed her, Sarah.
The story is, indeed, a familiar one. We meet Sarah in Genesis. She and her husband Abraham have been called by God to leave their home and go to a country He will show them. Abraham is given a promise – God will make him into a great nation. Along with the promise comes the understanding that, although they are childless and fairly well on in years, they will some day have a son.With great faith, they obediently pack up all their belongings and begin their journey.
Now we’ll fast-forward ten years or so. Abraham and Sarah have settled in the land of Canaan. God has reassured Abraham of His promise; He will give him and his descendants, as a permanent possession, all the land around him – as far as the eye can see.
However, there is still no baby, and Abraham and Sarah aren’t getting any younger. Sarah has been waiting a long time to see the fulfillment of the promise – a very long time. Nagging doubts fill her mind, and she begins to do exactly what I’ve done so many times myself. She thinks of a way she can help God out. She will have Abraham sleep with her servant girl, Hagar. It was a common practice for a barren woman to give a female servant to her husband so that they would have an heir. It seemed like the perfect solution.
We know the story. It didn’t turn out at all the way Sarah had planned. Hagar did have a son, but her relationship with Sarah became fraught with strife and jealousy. Thirteen years later, when Sarah did conceive and have a son as God had promised, her animosity toward Hagar spilled over onto the young boy, Ishmael. She insisted Abraham send both mother and son away. So much needless suffering. If only Sarah had waited. God kept His word. He kept it in His time.
It is, perhaps, all too easy to judge Sarah and shake our heads in wonder at her behavior. But I find, standing here in her sandals, it is all too easy to understand. There have been times when the answer to my heart-felt prayer is, “Wait.” For a little while I do just that, but as the days stretch into weeks and months and even years, I begin to doubt. I want desperately to make things come out the way I think they should, and so I go rushing past the Father – leaving a mess in my wake.
I can learn from the beautiful Sarah. There will be consequences when I step outside of God’s plan and try to do things on my own. But she also teaches me I can trust in the God who loves me and always keeps His promises.
Blessings,
Linda
Another truth in regard to Sarah that was shown to me: God allows us to have mates to be strong for them when they are weak. Abraham had the relationship with God. When Sarah’s dreams/hopes/faith was slipping away, Abraham should have stood strong.
Many people overlook the fact that when God gave Adam the position over Eve it was part of his punishment. Adam did not stand firm in his relationship with God and did not stand firm on behalf of Eve. Therefore, God made it Adam’s duty to do so.
Abraham should have known better. Abraham should have been strong when Sarah could not. The Hagar thing was a lack of faith in both Sarah and Abraham.
What a great reminder to wait if God wants us to wait. I so often do the same thing…rushing past God to do things my way. I should know better.
Good word!
Annette