A Lesson from Sarah

Wives In Touch

with God and one another

Dear Sister In Christ,

Every pastor's wife can benefit from having a role model and/or mentor. So when God pointed out a particular woman and said I could learn a lot from her I sought to become better acquainted with a woman with whom I was only fairly familiar. Actually I knew her husband and son far better but had never really spent time getting to know the woman within this beautiful wife and loving mother.

What little I did know of her hardly seemed to qualify one as a model mentor. She was known for telling half-truths (and growing up I was told a half-truth is bad as a whole lie). Sometimes she took submission to her husband to levels of co-dependency. Once she let her big mouth get her into big trouble and later blamed it all on her husband. And probably worst of all, it was common knowledge that in her anger, frustration, and without apology she had a young mother and son evicted and thrown out in the street.

Lest I be guilty of gossiping this is all thankfully in the past. She is now a living witness of God's amazing grace and the unfading inner beauty that radiates from a life of faith. I'd now like to share with you what I'm learning from Sarah, the wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac.

The call upon your husband’s life is a call upon your life. I’ve struggled to maintain a firm grasp on this. So did Sarah. God appeared to her husband and said, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:2-3 NIV).” God told this to Abraham several different times. (Genesis 13:14-17, 15:4-5, 17:1-14)

While Sarah accompanied Abraham there was no mentioning of where or how she figured into this divine proclamation. Pastors’ wives often feel this way. God called my husband but what about me? It’s not until four chapters and many event-full years later that Sarah’s name is mentioned in direct relation to God’s call upon Abraham’s life. During those years Sarah suffered several significant identity crises.

You must know who you are. Many pastors’ wives can get confused with role versus reality, personal identity, and people’s perceptions. Sarah also struggled. At times she carried herself as Abraham’s wife. At other times she said she was his sister. As evidenced by Sarah’s life, failure to know and see yourself within your husband’s calling can misplace others and lead to disgrace (Hagar and Ishmael, Genesis 16 & 21:9-20).

Sarah also suffered separation from Abraham while living a double life. Unless we are true to ourselves—knowing who we are, whose we are, and staying true to both, we cannot be true to others. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe (Proverbs 29:25 NIV).”

God may speak to your husband about you. “God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her (Genesis 17:15-16 NIV).”” Notice that God is speaking to Abraham about Sarah. God knows who you are and what He wants to accomplish through you. Pastors’ wives, God can be trusted to speak to your husband about you…even when doubt arises. “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”…Then God said, “Yes…your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac…I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him… whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year (Genesis 17:17-19, 21 NIV).””

Trust God to make His will known to you. In Genesis 18:1-15 we read the account of God once again speaking to Abraham only this time Sarah is present and listening. Ladies, God is aware of you, He hears your heart, and knows each anxious thought. “Is there anything too hard for the Lord (Genesis 18:14 NIV)?” Are you listening?

Learn to laugh—when, how and why. When God revealed His wonderful will to Sarah she laughed to herself and thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure (Genesis 18:12 NIV)?” Don’t doubt and laugh off God’s promises to you. Becoming a woman of faith requires focusing on the promises not the problems. After the birth of Isaac (which incidentally means to laugh) Sarah has cause to rejoice and laugh for joy. “Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age (Genesis 21: 6-7 NIV).””

Like mother, like daughter. Sarah learned to trust God and her husband. [We] are her daughters if [we] do what is right and do not give way to fear (1 Peter 3:6 NIV).

Blessings,

Meredith R. Sheppard

Wives In Touch is a ministry of prayer and encouragement for pastors’ wives.
Mail all correspondence to: Wives In Touch, 2803 Breaker Circle, Hayward, CA 94545, USA
msheppard1234@earthlink.net