Sarah’s Story of Sifted

I went to a conference recently and found storiesofsifted.com where it talks about how people of the Bible have been “sifted” and what happened in their lives. I read one about Abraham and then thought I’d write one about Sarah. Her story is told in Genesis 12-23. If you like these, let me know and maybe I’ll write more like this. 🙂

Sarah’s Story of Sifted

I am not quite sure why, but it took a really long time for God to get through to me. You know, God always seemed so distant to me for much of my life. I was appreciative to him for all his blessings like beauty to attract a husband who was able to give me much security and comfort throughout my life. We lived lives of peace and relative happiness. I had servants to come and go. I had plenty of food to eat and lovely clothes to wear.

I basically trusted my husband. He was a good man and he knew God better than I could ever hope to know him, or so I reasoned. You see, I thought that in order to be the good wife, I was supposed to be beautiful, provide children, and basically do whatever my husband told me. This God that my husband served had been good to us and I was thankful. But it never really occurred to me that I could talk to him myself, that it wasn’t enough to just live off my husband’s faith.

You know him today as one of the fathers of faith, but Abraham was just a man, who made plenty of mistakes. He had fears just like everyone else. So did I. I lied for him, thinking it was my duty. Somehow I had gotten this idea in my head that I was the one holding God’s hand of blessing back from Abraham. That’s why I suggested he use Hagar as a substitution for me. That solution was no answer to my emptiness or to the fulfillment of God’s promise. I was so insecure that after her son was born, I harbored contempt for my poor servant lady, sending her and her son away. You see, even though I was surrounded by every advantage, it seemed that God had something against me. I felt that even my beauty proved to be a liability in my husband’s eyes.

Did I laugh at God? Yes, I did laugh. I’ll admit it now. But you have to remember that there was a time when Abraham laughed too. The thought of God working a miracle through this old body was honestly pretty crazy to me. Though I tried to hide it then, God saw right through me. He realized how my laughter only masked how insignificant I felt. That’s when he gave me my new name. It took time for me to grow into that name– okay, a lot of time. But over this time, the reality of God’s intentions toward me grew. It grew to the point that I finally became aware of my significance in his eyes. When I saw the evidence of my miracle son, Isaac, the veil began to lift. I began to realize that when God made me, he did not make a mistake. By this time, my hair was white and my skin hung loose around my eyes.

I only pray that it would not take my children and grandchildren as long as it took me to figure out how wide and how deep is the love of God for his chosen ones. Though we may laugh, though our hearts may be fickle, though we may be hopelessly flawed, his promises to us are more sure than the rising and setting of the sun. We, his people, have an inheritance beyond what we can comprehend. The truth of his promise never depended on my faith, thank God! He proved his love to me in ways I never imagined he would. He is the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of Sarah too!