From Chapter 9 {Perseverance}

On the days when I take two steps forward only to slide back four or five I am incredibly grateful for the up close and personal examples of the women of the Bible. They remind me when I am not OK with where I am, the point is to keep moving forward, or at least try to. I find great encouragement in their real lives which were far from Pollyanna perfect.

Enter Sarai who became Sarah

She was a wife who wanted to be a mama in the worst way. She walked beside her husband for years, even decades before she lived the promise fulfilled. In between the promise made and the promise fulfilled she had her fair share of days when she was not OK with where she was. Her perseverance was far from perfect.

• She took matters into her own hands:

“And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” Genesis 16:2

• She blamed others when everything went as she had planned:

“And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt…Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.” Genesis 16:4,6

• She laughed at the promise:

“The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, and about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:13,14

As we have the chance to walk beside her through the years of waiting, we see so much of ourselves in her story. I know I have been her time and time again. I want things to go my way, so I push and pull until I manufacture my own artificial blessing. It ends up being less than perfect and I am found crying in my coffee wondering what I was thinking.

But God never wavers one bit off the mark of His own promise. He is faithful to His Word, every single time:

“The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, Isaac.” Genesis 21:1-3

She who laughed a the promise, found joy in it and named her son, Isaac which means “he laughs.”

“And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” Genesis 21:6

Maybe with old age comes the ability to laugh at yourself, but I think Sarah and Abraham were bubbling over with joy. They could see, touch, and hold the promise in their hands. Every time Sarah called Isaac to come to dinner she would be reminded she laughed at the promise God made—but God never once did.

Perseverance at times is not pretty.  In the days that followed, Sarah still persevered imperfectly. She ran her servant off in a fit of jealousy and probably had to swallow a big dose of pride upon her return. She made a fine mess out of life in the tent of Abraham. Truthfully, I am really no better.

My own mess has included gut wrenching worry. I have let fear paralyze me at times. During my not OK days I’ve been guilty of jealousy and believing the lie that the Lord was holding out on me. I’ve held tightly to my own plans and stomped off in anger when I felt forgotten. My own perseverance has been stopped dead in its tracks because of  my sin. I know better, to be sure. These things didn’t move me through the hard days any quicker. But, the sin of self has deep roots and to remove it, the Lord had to dig deep into my heart. In the end, Sarah is a reminder that God’s grace is a river that runs deeper and He can use our mess for His glory. For this, I am ever grateful.

The Rest of the Story

Hebrews 11 is often called the hall of faith because it goes on to list those people of old who received faith commendations. Guess who appears in this long list?

“By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was pas the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11

This is the same imperfect Sarah who laughed at the promise, manipulated her own situation, and blamed others when she was not ok with where she was. In her small mustard seed of faith, she considered Him faithful who had promised. And when she was beyond the age of becoming a mama, He made it so. Glory to God. He does amazing things when we place ourselves in His hands.

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Q. Can you relate to Sarah and her imperfect perseverance, too? I’d love to know if her story encourages your heart like it does mine.

We’ll wrap up with the final chapter this week. Stay tuned.