Sarah

Hi, this is Bernie Dake. Welcome to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. Is Your name beyond the days that pass away?

God, You deserve the praise. Oh, worthy, worthy, worthy is Your name. Your thoughts and plans are higher than our ways. Because Your sovereign Word does not return in vain.

And every move You start will not leave hearts unchanged. Worthy, worthy, worthy is Your name. What the world despised, You glorified. You raised what's dead to life. Worthy, worthy, worthy is Your name. Welcome back to Words of Life.

I'm Bernie Dake and I'm Cheryl Gillum. Today, Helen's going to be studying the story of Sarah. The story about Sarah is that we see throughout her story that she doesn't always behave in the way that we'd expect one of our Bible heroes to behave. I mean, she laughed when God told her that she was going to have a baby. Well, she was 99.

Right. But, you know, we think when we're thinking of Bible heroes, you think, oh, I'm full of faith. Like, we don't really always kind of navigate their emotions as we're going through it. I mean, I think I would laugh if God told me.

No, actually, I think I would cry. That could be some devastating news. But, Cheryl, you're not old. Ready for grandchildren. We hope that you are encouraged by the story of Sarah. Just a reminder that Words of Life is not just an audio show, but you can watch full episodes of the show on our YouTube channel. Subscribe to the Salvation Army Soundcash channel and be sure to turn notifications on so you don't miss any videos.

Welcome! No TV experience is complete without an adventure documentary show such as The Amazing Race. Sarah travels countries and lands waiting for God to fulfill his promises. And let's just say her partner, Abraham, isn't always the best teammate.

Our trip is recorded in Genesis 11 through 23. Sarah is Abraham's wife, his half-sister, Tara's daughter and daughter-in-law. Very confusing. She was barren. In her culture, her value would have been tied up in the number of sons she had. At this point, her identity is tied to her husband.

There's pressure. The family is living in the Ur of the Chaldeans, one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. Sarah was 65 and Abram was 75 when God first spoke history-changing words to Abraham. Sarah and Abraham had both lived in Ur of the Chaldees all their lives.

God said, leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. In Sarah's mind, we would have to wonder if the call was to Abram. But what about her? Was there a place in God's plan for Sarah? Was there a blessing for Sarah? At this point, it's impossible not to notice how further in this account in Scripture Sarah behaved badly. She could throw fits and tantrums. She knew how to be manipulative. And she was even known to be mean. However, she is part of God's plan. God calls us at times in spite of ourselves. We do not see that Sarah was not unwilling to go. Leave the city and become a nomad?

Who knew? Tara moves the family to Haran and they settled there. It's important to point out here that this was not where God told Abraham to go. It was a stop on the way to Canaan.

This is where we see Abraham's faith. He takes his family and goes. By the time this journey is over, they have traveled over a thousand miles.

What a great race! During this time, Tara dies. There's famine in the land and Abraham takes his family to Egypt.

His first mistake, did God tell him to move? This is where we first learn that Sarah is very beautiful. And we discover that Abraham trades integrity for security.

Here's the plan. Let's tell everyone you're my sister. It's a half-truth. If we don't tell them this, they may kill me so Pharaoh can have you. This was not one of Abraham's shining moments. He did this not once, but twice. Twice he asks Sarah to prove her love to him by telling a half-truth.

Twice she complied and put her neck on the line to save his. Abraham protected himself, but Sarah first was taken by Pharaoh to be his wife and then years later to be a part of King Abimelech's harem. God protected Sarah in both instances.

Consequences. Did she lose her identity after this? God makes his covenant with Abraham. Abraham questions, how can this be?

Me become a great nation when I'm childless. We do not have a record that Abraham shared this bit of news with Sarah. We do not see that God talked to Sarah. Sarah fights back. It shows her foolishness in the matter of Hagar. Sarah doesn't know the plan, so she decides to take matters into her own hands. We meet Hagar.

Let's look at this with our adult experience and knowledge. It's the story of a mistress and her maid and the man in their lives. Hagar was Sarah's maid.

She owned her, and she enters a maid and comes out a mom. Sarah was tortured by her childlessness. All the recorded episodes of ill temper and strife in her household was related to her frustration about her own barrenness. She spent years in the grip of frustration and depression because of it. In her culture, if a woman was unable to conceive, she could give her maid to her husband, and if a child was born, the child belonged to the wife.

It seemed like a good idea, and Abraham agreed. Hagar is a disposable pawn in this scheme, and Sarah's faith, whatever she had, hit an all-time low. The scheme was immoral, unrighteous, and utterly foolish. This decision tore her family apart. Her own heart sometimes led her astray. Her life is a study in contrasts and contradictions. For some, this part of the Bible is disconcerting and makes them uncomfortable.

However, aren't you glad the Bible records more than just the success stories? Sarah's plan backfired. Something went terribly wrong. As soon as Hagar conceived, Sarah knew she'd made a mistake. Hagar became haughty and contentious toward Sarah. An outburst came from Sarah speaking to Abraham.

My wrong is upon you. It's so easy to blame. Abraham told Sarah to handle the problem herself. Obviously, he couldn't handle two wives, one being pregnant, and Sarah became very abusive to Hagar.

Let's insert here that every party in this whole affair was guilty, and all of them ended up reaping bitter fruit from what they had done. Sarah's actions affected her own family and generations to come. The children of Sarah and Hagar war against each other.

Arabs and Jews fight for control over the land of Israel to this day. To handle the situation herself, Sarah sends Hagar away when she's pregnant. God intervenes and sends her back to Sarah. Now, Sarah hears her name. She's eavesdropping on the conversation Abraham is having with God's messengers. She realizes she doesn't have a private life. The man on the other side of the tent knew she laughed, knew her surprise, and knew all about her sorrow and unbelief.

Sound familiar? Sarah was so defeated by her circumstances, she had forgotten God. Moving quickly, Sarah does indeed bear a son, and she calls him Isaac, which means laughter. Her issues were not all solved by his birth.

When Isaac was about three years old, there was a party for him. Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of him. She became so angry, she again set Hagar and Ishmael away. After all this, she still lacked faith that God was in control. There were consequences, a slippery slope to disaster.

Ishmael lived with hostility toward all his brothers. His hand will be against everyone and vice versa. God's word to Hagar were gentle and full of mercy. She and her son would be taken care of. We can rejoice in Sarah's part in the lineage of Jesus. However, there is a time when much of her life she was stuck in the middle, longing to see God's hand, trying to find his purpose in her life. Sarah had a crucial role to play in God's purposes. Her contribution was Isaac, not just an ordinary son, but an extraordinary promise. This week, may God show you the extraordinary in the ordinary.

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