Woman of God: Sarah
Starting in 2025, we have a new program called the Woman of God series where we’ll discuss one woman from the Bible that is considered as Woman of God every month. We choose to write about Woman of God because most people often overlook women. Women are not mentioned a lot in the Bible and that’s one of the reasons why we create this series. In the first post, we would like to discuss Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
Sarah, Mother of Nations
Sarah was Abraham’s wife and Abraham’s sister (from another mother). Her name was Sarai but God gave her a new name. (Genesis 17:15)
At the beginning of her marriage with Abraham, Sarah was unable to conceive & she did not have a child (Genesis 11:30). But God promised that nations and kings of people would come from her.
Sarah Obeyed Her Husband Despite Being Used
In this modern-day feminism, somewhere in the part of this earth, being a woman like Sarah would be considered traditional and not fun. It’s normal on this day to disobey the husband’s command.
Abraham told Sarah to admit he was her brother rather than her husband. Sarah submitted to Abraham, even when her husband almost led her to sin: The first one was when they were in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20) and the second was when Sarah was taken by Abimelech (Genesis 20:13). And God worked through her obedience to Abraham. That’s why wives should submit to their husbands.
1 Peter 3:5-6 | “For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also adorned themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear any intimidation.”
Impatience Leads to More Problems
Sarah is like most people: impatient when they want something. Instead of waiting for God’s promise, Sarah gave her servant to Abraham as a surrogate, which caused tension between Hagar and Sarah.
God promised Abraham that He would give Abraham offspring. God said His promise three times before Abraham agreed to Sarah when she asked him to have a child with her servant. And then God made it clear that God would trace his descendants through Isaac (Genesis 21:12).
Abraham was a little bit unsure or not understanding God’s promise. Until God made it clear that Sarah would be the mother of nations. Sarah’s impatience led to her being seen as lower than her servant. It also led to Hagar being mistreated (Genesis 16), Ishmael mocking Isaac and the list goes on (Genesis 21:8-21).
Doubting God’s Promise
When The LORD visited Abraham and told Abraham that Sarah would have a son, Sarah laughed. The Lord asked why Sarah laughed and affirmed that nothing is too hard for Him. When Sarah denies laughing out of fear, the Lord gently corrects her, saying, "Yes, you did laugh.” (Genesis 18:9-15).
Sarah Is A Believer
Despite being old and childless and doubting God’s promise, she believed in God. She believed that God was real. Sometimes we are just like Sarah, we think that God exists but we still feel doubt, fear, anxiety, etc. It’s part of being a human. Whenever we’re feeling now always seek God first. (Hebrews 11:11)
God Always Keeps His Promise
At 90 years old, Sarah got pregnant with her first child as God had promised. Nothing is impossible for God, the creator of the universe. I couldn’t imagine what it feels like to have a child at 90 years old. (Genesis 21:1-7)
God revealed His power through Abraham and Sarah’s weakness (being old and childless). Something impossible for humans is possible for God. Sarah knew that God was faithful and she had faith in Him. As children of God, we should know that we are the children of a free woman (Galatians 4:21-31).
Lessons Learned
From Sarah’s story, we can see how great God is. Maybe some of you are dealing with the same problems as Sarah’s. The way God used Sarah to show His faithfulness is a reassurance and reminder for us who deal with doubt and impatience.
Remind yourself every day that God is faithful. God will do anything to protect you. God loves you no matter what.
God will work through our obedience. Humans fell into sin because they cannot obey God’s command. So when we obey Him, He will work through it. There are many other stories about obedience in the Bible (for example: Noah, Moses, Joshua, and Jesus of course!) and we encourage you to check on them.
Learn to have patience. We understand instant gratification is not good for us. When we want something and God says "not now," we should trust Him. God answers our prayers, but the answer isn’t always "yes"; sometimes it’s "not now" or "no."
Trust in God’s timing. God’s timing is the best. What’s good in God’s eyes is not always good in our eyes.
I hope you enjoyed our content and learned something new from our new series. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to share this story with someone who needs it. God bless you.
