Marriage Mondays ~ Wives of the Bible ~ Sarah

"Is anything too hard for the LORD?" Genesis 18:14

Thank you for joining me for our new Marriage Monday series Wives of the Bible. There is much to learn from God's Word. I love studying the lives of people in the Bible and learning from their success & failure. Isn't it wonderful that God can use the good & bad in our lives for something good? Please join me each week as we study the life of a wife in the Bible. This week we will look at the life of Sarah. You can find her story in Genesis 11 - 25.

Has God called you & or your husband to serve him and your wondering how he could ever use you? Do you think I'm too young, too old, not smart enough, not outgoing enough, not disciplined enough, too busy? We come up with many excuses why we aren't worthy of being called by God. In our eyes we may see where there is no way what God has called us to could ever be accomplished. 

That is just what Sarai thought when God told Abram in Genesis 15 He would give him descendents that would be too numerous to count like the stars in the sky. Sarai couldn't believe that at her age she would be able to bear a child. So, she fell to peer pressure & common practice of the day & gave Abram her maidservant Hagar.

Because of Sarai's impatience & trouble believing God would do what He said He would do she set off a cascade of problems. She became jealous of Hagar and blamed Abram for her frustrations. She showed lack of faith in God when she took matters into her own hands. How often do we make a mess of things in our lives by trying to handle them ourselves rather than trusting God to do what He says He is going to do?

Buy God kept His promise. God confirmed His covenant with Abram when He changed his name to Abraham. 

God also changed Sarai's name to 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 17:16.

Sarai, which means my little princess became Sarah a princess for all people. God was going to fulfill His covenant through Abraham who was now 100 years old and Sarah who was 90. God proved that nothing was too hard for Him.

Over the last year my husband & I have both been called into areas of Spiritual Leadership that I viewed as something someone who is older & much wiser than I should do. I have given God many excuses why we aren't the ones for these positions ~ we are too young, our kids require a lot of time, Jeff is busy with work, we aren't experienced enough etc. While giving God the excuses I have also spent many hours in prayer and have felt the reassurance from God that we are following His will for our lives. As Genesis 18:14 says, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?"

Through our study of Sarah this week I have seen where God will do His work with the most unlikely person. No matter what age you are, how smart you are, or outgoing you are God can use you to serve Him. The best thing we can do is to get out of His way and allow ourselves to be used by Him.

• If God can take a man who is 100 years old & a woman who is 90 and give them a child then what amazing things can He do in my life?
• If God can take a wife who makes a mess out of things by trying to handle them herself and turn her into a princess for all people ~ then what can He do in my life and my marriage when I turn them back over to Him after I mess up trying to handle them myself?

Over the next several months we are going to study the Wives of the Bible on Marriage Monday. I hope you will continue to join me as we learn from both the way they followed the Lord and from their mistakes.  Join me next week as we learn from the mistakes Lott's wife made.

I am linked today with Julie @ Come Have a Peace.

In His Calm,

Mary