Do you remember hearing about Sarah in Sunday school? Or maybe you’ve read the story about her in the Bible. She might seem kind of lame because she lived so long ago and you might feel that its hard to relate to her life and story. However, Sarah’s life can teach us four important lessons.
1. Sometimes you have to give things up. Sarah had to give some things up. She was living in the land of Ur. She probably had a nice house. She had friends, family and probably a few awesome places she liked to shop. She was probably very comfortable where she was. But then something crazy happened. God lead her husband Abraham to leave the country they lived in and told Him to go to the land He promised Abraham. What that meant for Sarah was saying goodbye to all her friends and family. Can you imagine how hard would that be? She had to leave everyone she knew and travel to this land that God provided.
The great thing is that Sarah did it. She gave up what was comfortable around her to seek God’s plan for her and her husband’s life. She chose to follow after God and not after stuff. And she is an awesome example we can look up to in regards to trusting God.
2. Its okay to doubt. God told Sarah that she would have a child. Not that big of deal, except for the fact that Sarah was 90 at the time. She was way past the age to have kids. Sarah went to far as laughing out loud when she heard the news that she would have a baby.
This is encouraging because it shows us its okay to have doubts. Its how you channel those doubts that is important. For example, sometimes when God leads us or directs us, we can have a moment where we doubt what God says. We might think that its impossible. But we shouldn’t stay in the place of doubt.
The good news is that Sarah didn’t continue doubting. She might have doubted at first, but then she chose to believe what God said. Because she believed God, she had the baby just like God had said.
By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. – Hebrews 11:11 (Message)
3. Following God isn’t always easy, but its always worth it.
Most likely, Sarah would have enjoyed taking the easy route. She could have avoided living in tents for lots of years. She could have enjoyed getting to live in an awesome house, but she decided instead to trust God and go for an eternal reward for serving Him.
Hebrews 11:9 – By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. (Message)
Sarah knew that by trusting God, she would get awesome rewards. She put aside comfort and trusted in God. God rewarded her with a son and become an ancestor of Jesus. Many times following after God isn’t the easiest option. The good news is that following after God always brings great rewards.
4. Never leave your wingman.
Sarah proved that she was faithful. She had the opportunity to be a queen. Pharoah liked her and wanted her to be his wife. However, Sarah stayed with Abraham. She stayed faithful when it might have been easier to say yes to a home, riches and being a queen. Despite all that, Sarah stayed by Abraham’s side.
It might be easier at times to not stay with the people or church that God has put into your life. It might seem like it would be easier to just ditch those people. However, there are benefits to being faithful. Sarah’s life proves that. Stick with the people that God has placed in your life.
These are just four things that can be learned from the life of Sarah. She was an awesome woman that trusted God and paved the way for Jesus to be born. She trusted God when it might not have always been what was comfortable or felt easy. So the next time you happen to read the story of Sarah, don’t just skim over it, but realize that she was an amazing woman who did great things for God!