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| Strengths Weaknesses &Mistakes LifeLessons |
| Sarai, the wife of Abram was very dedicated to her husband, so much so that when God had come to her husband to tell him to leave his country, his people, and his family, she went as well. After all, God had said that Abram would be made into a great nation and that God would give the new land to their offspring. Sarah hadn't been able to have children but God had said that she would be the 'Mother of a Nation'. She was a woman of faith, a future ancestor of Jesus, she believed God would give her a child. When God came to Abram, Sarai was ninety, and said that Abram would now be called Abraham and Sarai would be called Sarah from then on, and she would become pregnant. Sarah did get pregnant and have a son, Issac. As she had begun to age it became difficult for Sarah to imagine herself becoming a mother, she was after all, beyond the bearing age of any normal woman. She began to think that God had meant for she and Abraham to have a child through her maidservant, a common practice, sometimes required in their culture to continue the family name. So she decided to take things into her own hands. Sarah gave her maidservant, Hagar, to her husband and she became pregnant. Then Hagar began to dispise Sarah and Sarah blamed Abraham saying, 'You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering' {Gen. 16:1-4}. When Sarah finally had a son of her own and saw Ishmael, Hagar's son, mocking Issac, she told Abraham, 'Get rid of that slave woman and her son, they will never share in the inheritance with my son Issac' {Gen. 21:8-14}. Though Sarah believed what God had said about making her husband a 'great nation', she began to doubt that God meant to do it through her, so she took matters into her own hands. Out of this 'doing God's job' comes a meriad of problems. When we take God's work without His guidance we are playing with fire, we make things more difficult for ourselves, but in His great love, God can demonstrate His ability to work in all things for good {Rom. 8:28}. Even people of great faith have doubts at times. Because of her doubt, worry, and fear, Sarah gave up the peace she could have felt in God's wonderful promise to her {Isiah 58:11}. The only way to bring peace to a troubled heart is to focus on God, knowing He will fulfill His promises. 'I will put my trust in Him' {Heb. 2:13}. She shifted the responsibility of their trials onto others, instead of 'Coming to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' {Matt. 11:28}. |
| Sarai |
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