Have you ever considered what a unique character Sarah was? We all know the infamous story of her doubting—how she, much like Lot’s wife, “looked back” not forward and laughed at God’s promise. Yet, there is Hebrews 11:11, which says, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” Sarah, with her desire, her preparation, and her doubting, wasn’t much different from anyone who is desiring something, and certainly has a lot of bearing on those of us who are single and praying to the Lord for a Godly marriage someday.
You see, just as we desire marriage, so she desired to have a son. Genesis 11:30 establishes that she was barren however, and in Genesis 15:2-3, Abraham shares his and Sarah’s desire with God: “But Abram said, ‘Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ Then Abram said, ‘Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!’” Similarily, we may say to God, “God! You still have not provided anyone for me! I don’t even see any prospects in the future. Look! I am serving You here in my father’s house—his ministry is my ministry.” It becomes clear in the next two verses of Genesis 15 that Sarah and Abraham’s desire for children was also God’s desire—and that is the key to success in anything. “And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” If you are desiring what God desires for you, He will give beyond what you could ever fathom.
Sarah obviously prepared well for the desire that she had and that God had sanctified, because her son grew up to be a Godly man and leader. Similarly, if we are desiring courtship and marriage, we should be prepared, just as Lauren talked about in The Foolish Virgins. However, Sarah made a common mistake that all of us are prone to: she “overprepared.” Did you know that such a thing could be possible? In the context of the virgins, overpreparation would have been getting situated in the room before they were invited in. In Sarah’s case, overpreparation was saying to her husband, “’See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abraham heeded the voice of Sarai (Genesis 16:2).” In our case, overpreparation could be trying to develop unwise relationships with other young men, trying to outshine even Martha Stewart with our superhuman culinary, housekeeping, and domestic skills, and the list can go on. In other words, overpreparation is trying to accomplish God’s will for us in our own human strength and according to our own human timeline, not wisely training for the role God has given to you.
God was patient with Sarah, just as He is with us, thankfully! Times of doubt, waves of uncertainty, and days that are so foggy you lose sight of God’s desire for you come, just as they did with Sarah. “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ And the lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?” Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son (Genesis 18:12-14).’” Sarah may have doubted God’s promise, but God was still faithful to His Word, and He brought Abraham and Sarah a son, just as He promised (see Genesis 21:2-9).
Which stage of Sarah’s life are you in right now? Do you have a desire apart from God’s will? Have you made God’s desires your desires, but now find yourself waiting on His timing? Are you becoming impatient and doubting or working out your desire in your own strength? Although I apply these principles specifically to courtship and marriage, they are pertinent to every facet of life. By herself, Sarah was a weak doubter, but “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised (Hebrews 11:11).”
You see, just as we desire marriage, so she desired to have a son. Genesis 11:30 establishes that she was barren however, and in Genesis 15:2-3, Abraham shares his and Sarah’s desire with God: “But Abram said, ‘Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ Then Abram said, ‘Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!’” Similarily, we may say to God, “God! You still have not provided anyone for me! I don’t even see any prospects in the future. Look! I am serving You here in my father’s house—his ministry is my ministry.” It becomes clear in the next two verses of Genesis 15 that Sarah and Abraham’s desire for children was also God’s desire—and that is the key to success in anything. “And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’” If you are desiring what God desires for you, He will give beyond what you could ever fathom.
Sarah obviously prepared well for the desire that she had and that God had sanctified, because her son grew up to be a Godly man and leader. Similarly, if we are desiring courtship and marriage, we should be prepared, just as Lauren talked about in The Foolish Virgins. However, Sarah made a common mistake that all of us are prone to: she “overprepared.” Did you know that such a thing could be possible? In the context of the virgins, overpreparation would have been getting situated in the room before they were invited in. In Sarah’s case, overpreparation was saying to her husband, “’See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abraham heeded the voice of Sarai (Genesis 16:2).” In our case, overpreparation could be trying to develop unwise relationships with other young men, trying to outshine even Martha Stewart with our superhuman culinary, housekeeping, and domestic skills, and the list can go on. In other words, overpreparation is trying to accomplish God’s will for us in our own human strength and according to our own human timeline, not wisely training for the role God has given to you.
God was patient with Sarah, just as He is with us, thankfully! Times of doubt, waves of uncertainty, and days that are so foggy you lose sight of God’s desire for you come, just as they did with Sarah. “Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ And the lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh, saying, “Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?” Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son (Genesis 18:12-14).’” Sarah may have doubted God’s promise, but God was still faithful to His Word, and He brought Abraham and Sarah a son, just as He promised (see Genesis 21:2-9).
Which stage of Sarah’s life are you in right now? Do you have a desire apart from God’s will? Have you made God’s desires your desires, but now find yourself waiting on His timing? Are you becoming impatient and doubting or working out your desire in your own strength? Although I apply these principles specifically to courtship and marriage, they are pertinent to every facet of life. By herself, Sarah was a weak doubter, but “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised (Hebrews 11:11).”
I hope that you have learned, been inspired by, and been challenged through our series on courtship. Perhaps we introduced some new concepts or reiterated some familiar ones. As you take the next step of faith—whatever that is—remember that “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it (I Thessalonians 5:24).”
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"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Thank you so much. That was a very good reminder. I had never made the application of Sarah's faith to my daily life before. Those were very good thoughts. It is so easy to become discouraged, to want to take control of the situation ourselves and such a move always results in trouble. I definitely need to learn to wait on the Lord more.
ReplyDeleteI actually wrote this article twice, Charae--near the end of the first article, I read the verse in Hebrews, and suddenly God gave me the analogy between Sarah's life and mine. So I rewrote the article in excitement--and I'm so glad that God used it!
ReplyDeleteMikaela: You and Lauren are definitely a very "bright corner" and I LOVE reading your posts about what the Lord has been showing you through his word! It is so exciting when others are excited about the truths we find in the Bible and I just wanted to let you know that y'all are a great encouragement :) Love and Blessings!
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you, Jacqueline! That's so sweet of you! Writing and blogging are things that I love doing, and I'm thrilled that they are accomplishing what I hoped. Thanks for that encouragement--it made my day. ;-)
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