Lessons from Sarah

Genesis 11:30 ff

Today we celebrate a most special day. We celebrate that day that has been set aside to honor some of the most important people in the world. Today is of course, Mother’s Day. Already we have honored some outstanding women in various categories. Some of you ladies may not be mothers. You may not have the joy of giving birth, and raising a child. That doesn’t make you any less special. God loves all of his creation, man, woman, boy and girl, and he loves each of you, for God is Love. Yet today, we want to look at, and celebrate motherhood. Many pastors will be turning to that favorite passage in Proverbs about a virtuous woman. We one the other hand, are going to look at one specific mother, and see what lessons we may learn from her. It is my contention this morning that each one of us, can learn by the example of this mother. This mother called Sarah.

We find Sarah’s story in the book of Genesis. Her story teaches us many things about ourselves, and our walk with God. Today’s message covers various scriptures beginning with Genesis 11:30 on through Genesis 21:5. If I were to read aloud each of these chapters, you’d likely miss that special Mother’s Day brunch down at the cafeteria, so I’ll ask you to take note of the scriptures as I reference them, and read them at home.

I. Beauty does not buy happiness.

The first thing that we can learn from our Biblical mom today is that beauty does not guarantee happiness. You wouldn’t know it from popular culture however. After all, when was the last time you saw an advertising agency looking for overweight middle aged models with beer bellies and bad breath? Our culture prides physical beauty at any cost. We seem to prize the well defined, the attractive, the ‘pretty people’. Millions of dollars and countless hours of sweat and tears are spent each year in the pursuit of the perfect body. Yet is that the be all and end all? Will tremendous physical beauty secure your happiness?

Genesis 12:11 reads "And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai, his wife, behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon....." This verse understates Sarah’s beauty. She was apparently quite an attractive woman. She had many of the things that we would think would make her enormously happy, and leave her feeling quite satisfied with her life. She was beautiful, she had a husband who loved her. She had all of her material wants and needs satisfied, why wouldn’t she be happy? Well there was one thing she wanted, perhaps even needed to make her happy, and all of her beauty, all of her wealth, and all of Abraham’s love couldn’t seem to provide. You see, the scripture tells us that Sarah was barren. Not simply that she had no children, but that she was barren. See for yourself in Genesis 11:30. Now that is surely something that could make a woman unhappy. Certainly one who desperately wanted to be a mother as Sarah did would be displeased. Her money, her beauty, her station, none of these could provide her with happiness. In fact, we see that the beauty which we seem to prize so highly brought its own form of torment for Sarah. Because she was beautiful, and because Abraham feared to lose his life, he forced Sarah to lie. She had to pretend that she was his sister, and ended up in Pharaoh’s household. Beauty didn’t bring Sarah happiness, it apparently brought her heartache. We can learn that lesson from her this mother’s day. It doesn’t matter how pretty we are, it doesn’t matter how wealthy we are, it doesn’t matter our social standing, or even if our names are on the who’s who pages of the city directory. What matters is how we live our lives, the integrity that we maintain, and our walk with the Lord. External beauty and material possessions do not guarantee our happiness, but living with Christ will.

II. Helping God, Doesn’t

Sarah wanted children badly. So badly, she decided upon a scheme to help the process along a bit. She told her husband in chapter 16 to take Hagar as his wife. Now Hagar was an Egyptian, and was Sarah’s handmaiden. Abraham apparently went along with his wife’s wishes, because in verse 4, we see that Hagar conceived. This little plan backfired though. When Hagar became pregnant, Sarah became intensely jealous. She demanded that Abraham do something! I can fully picture her with her hands upon her hips, ranting and raving at poor ol’ Abraham, telling him exactly how it is HIS fault that he did her wishes. He should have known better than to listen to her.

He told her that Hagar was her servant, and she could do what she willed. So she dealt rather severely with her, and Hagar fled. And to this very day, the descendants of Ishmael are a thorn in Israel’s side.

Sarah wanted something so badly, that she wasn’t willing to be patient. She wasn’t willing to wait for God’s time, she wanted it on her timetable. The lesson that we learn from this is that we don’t need to help God along. We don’t need to scheme and plot, plan and promise, in order to receive God’s blessings. We need to seek Him first, and all the rest will fall into place. Because of Sarah’s actions, we can learn this lesson without experiencing it. We don’t need to help God. He does the helping, we do the following. We must allow things to happen in God’s time, and they will work out better than if we try to go it alone.

III. God’s ideas are not laughable.

Gen 18:12 says "Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have become old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" God sent the news that Sarah herself would finally have a baby Now, Sarah didn’t laugh in the face of the two messengers, but she did go off by herself and spare a chuckle or two. Let’s look at it from her point of view. Both she and Abraham were well past childbearing years. She knew that she could bear no children. Who wouldn’t have laughed? Who wouldn’t have thought the idea of an elderly woman giving birth to a child to be hilariously funny? She forgot one important fact though. She forgot whose messengers they were. She forgot that the message came from God! She scoffed, and she forgot that with God all things are possible. When God gives us our instructions, who are we to question His judgment? God does not always choose the Hollywood ideal to do a task. He generally chooses the person most willing to conform to His ideal . What God tells us to do is no laughing matter. It is usually a matter of most seriousness. We ought to learn from Sarah and not laugh in the face of God. How many times have we refused to teach a class, or visit a friend, or bake a cake, or prepare a meal because we thought we were not capable? How many times have we passed a job on to someone else because we felt that we were not the best suited for the job. How many times do we think that God knows who is suited? The answer to the last question is EVERY TIME. God knows best each time, and when we are presented with a challenge, we can accomplish it with the help of the Lord.

IV. God Keeps His Promises

God made a promise to both Abraham and Sarah to provide them with a child. While Sarah laughed in her heart, God still kept His word. His keeping of His promises are not predicated by our own actions. When God gives his word, it is kept. Chapter 21 verses 1-5 tell us the story. Sarah bore a son, and called him Isaac. At the ripe old age of 100, Abraham finally had his son. And Sarah had her child. It is amazing how things work well when we allow God to do things His way, rather than our own way. We need to remember that in our daily lives. If God said it, we can count on it God will always keep his promises to us no matter what.

Sarah is one of the most famous mothers in all of scripture, and we can see much in her life. We see in Sarah a mother that has faults. She is not a perfect china doll of a woman. We see in Sarah a wife who loved her husband. We see in Sarah woman like many of you today. Sarah started, and stumbled, and lurched her way into motherhood and beyond. Let’s take our lesson from her today. Sarah teaches us that beauty does not buy happiness, we cannot help God along, never to underestimate what God says, and to remember that He will always come through in the end.

E-mail the Pastor at mail@claimthevictory.org