First posted Saturday, October 10, 2009
Sarah, mother of Isaac, grandmother of Jacob, is our ancestral mother. We all come together in her.
Even if you are not a blood descendant of Sarah, she is, in Christ, your ancestor. Sarah is our mother.
We normally do not think of her in that way. We do not stop to reflect that, when Christ returns, the dead are raised, and eternal life is bestowed on all the faithful, that we will meet together at some great family reunion, and at the head of the table reserved for the parents will sit our grandmother, Sarah. Go ahead and call her "Grandma", if you want!
His (Abraham's) faith gave Sarah in her barrenness the power to be impregnated by seed when past the prime of adulthood, because he had faith in the One who made the promise.
Yes, it's true that Sarah mocked God when she was told that she would have a child. She was, after all, human, and little old ladies do not have babies, especially in the pre-in vitro age!
But there had to have been some element of faith in Sarah, as well as Abraham. And even though Abraham understood, sadly, the discouragement and demoralizing effect of a mocking wife (it's a wonder he ever accomplished anything!), still we must conclude that Sarah had enough faith to be counted worthy to be the grandmother of us all!
I cannot contemplate God so blessing this great woman, unless her basic pattern was to live in gentleness and acceptance, even though she entered old age without ever having given birth.
What can we learn from Sarah? I believe we can learn much, and it would be good to study and comment on her great qualities.
How about, for starters: accepting God's will for whether or not she ever bore children? How about choosing to be happy with or without children - in whatever state God has planted you?
Please reader - I am not making a judgment on any person living in these times of medical miracles. But let us never lose sight of these simple qualities of faith that were easier to come by, when it was humanly impossible for people to reverse apparent infertility! Faith is faith! And it cannot be expressed without hardship or disappointment.
Thank you, Grandma Sarah. Because you accepted God's will, His Kingdom could be planted, and today our family is millions strong!
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