"Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him." --Genesis 21:1-2
Lewis got a children's Bible for Easter and we have been reading it every morning. Not that he is very interested or can understand the stories just yet (it's really for kids 4 years +), but I figure it's a good habit to get into. Oddly enough, it has been great for me because as we read, I think about the stories and go back to the actual scripture to get the whole picture.
The story of Abraham and Sarah has had me thinking a great deal about God's faithfulness, and about our desire to help God out when we think he needs it. If you go back to Genesis 15 and 16, God makes his promise that Abraham's offspring will be numerous and eventually bring about the Savior who turns out to be Jesus.
In Sarah's mind this was impossible. Her alternative was to give her maidservant to Abraham and "build a family through her." Abraham agrees and immediately there is hostility between the two women as a result. This whole thing is so similar to what we do all the time. We know God loves us and will take care of us, but often we don't see how he is going to make our lives come together and work. Women are great at coming up with a good plan to "solve" things. Unfortunately these plans often make things worse.
The beauty in this story is that God remains faithful to Sarah, and carries out his plan as promised--despite her lack of faith. Sarah is the one to become pregnant and give birth to Isaac in her very old age. God blesses Ishmael as well, but it is a different type of blessing. Sarah's line is the one that leads to Christ.
The women's Bible study I attend is studying Galatians. We have been discussing at length our freedom in Christ and how we tend to put ourselves back under the law instead of trusting in God's grace alone for our salvation and daily living. Though it is a gift, we try to earn our salvation and God's blessing by doing all kinds of 'good' works.
Galatians 4 sums up Sarah's story this way, "Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise...........Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? 'Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.' Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman."
It is wonderful to live in that freedom. I pray for my faith to be strengthened by abiding in Christ so that I can trust God to fulfill his will for me without worrying about things or trying to fix them on my own. God doesn't need my help after all! God does ask for me to act in obedience and to do good, but my faithfulness thankfully does not determine his next move. What a joy to know and rest in this truth!
The story of Abraham and Sarah has had me thinking a great deal about God's faithfulness, and about our desire to help God out when we think he needs it. If you go back to Genesis 15 and 16, God makes his promise that Abraham's offspring will be numerous and eventually bring about the Savior who turns out to be Jesus.
In Sarah's mind this was impossible. Her alternative was to give her maidservant to Abraham and "build a family through her." Abraham agrees and immediately there is hostility between the two women as a result. This whole thing is so similar to what we do all the time. We know God loves us and will take care of us, but often we don't see how he is going to make our lives come together and work. Women are great at coming up with a good plan to "solve" things. Unfortunately these plans often make things worse.
The beauty in this story is that God remains faithful to Sarah, and carries out his plan as promised--despite her lack of faith. Sarah is the one to become pregnant and give birth to Isaac in her very old age. God blesses Ishmael as well, but it is a different type of blessing. Sarah's line is the one that leads to Christ.
The women's Bible study I attend is studying Galatians. We have been discussing at length our freedom in Christ and how we tend to put ourselves back under the law instead of trusting in God's grace alone for our salvation and daily living. Though it is a gift, we try to earn our salvation and God's blessing by doing all kinds of 'good' works.
Galatians 4 sums up Sarah's story this way, "Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise...........Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? 'Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.' Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman."
It is wonderful to live in that freedom. I pray for my faith to be strengthened by abiding in Christ so that I can trust God to fulfill his will for me without worrying about things or trying to fix them on my own. God doesn't need my help after all! God does ask for me to act in obedience and to do good, but my faithfulness thankfully does not determine his next move. What a joy to know and rest in this truth!
