Today we celebrate a most special day. We celebrate that day that has been set
aside to honor some of the most important people in the world. Today is of
course, Mother’s Day. Already we have honored some outstanding women in various
categories. Some of you ladies may not be mothers. You may not have the joy of
giving birth, and raising a child. That doesn’t make you any less special. God
loves all of his creation, man, woman, boy and girl, and he loves each of you,
for God is Love. Yet today, we want to look at, and celebrate motherhood. Many
pastors will be turning to that favorite passage in Proverbs about a virtuous
woman. We one the other hand, are going to look at one specific mother, and see
what lessons we may learn from her. It is my contention this morning that each
one of us, can learn by the example of this mother. This mother called Sarah.
We find Sarah’s story in the book of Genesis. Her story teaches us many things
about ourselves, and our walk with God. Today’s message covers various
scriptures beginning with Genesis 11:30 on through Genesis 21:5. If I were to
read aloud each of these chapters, you’d likely miss that special Mother’s Day
brunch down at the cafeteria, so I’ll ask you to take note of the scriptures as
I reference them, and read them at home.
I. Beauty does not buy happiness.
The first thing that we can learn from our Biblical mom today is that beauty
does not guarantee happiness. You wouldn’t know it from popular culture however.
After all, when was the last time you saw an advertising agency looking for
overweight middle aged models with beer bellies and bad breath? Our culture
prides physical beauty at any cost. We seem to prize the well defined, the
attractive, the ‘pretty people’. Millions of dollars and countless hours of
sweat and tears are spent each year in the pursuit of the perfect body. Yet is
that the be all and end all? Will tremendous physical beauty secure your
happiness?
Genesis 12:11 reads "And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into
Egypt, that he said unto Sarai, his wife, behold now, I know that thou art a
fair woman to look upon....." This verse understates Sarah’s beauty. She was
apparently quite an attractive woman. She had many of the things that we would
think would make her enormously happy, and leave her feeling quite satisfied
with her life. She was beautiful, she had a husband who loved her. She had all
of her material wants and needs satisfied, why wouldn’t she be happy? Well there
was one thing she wanted, perhaps even needed to make her happy, and all of her
beauty, all of her wealth, and all of Abraham’s love couldn’t seem to provide.
You see, the scripture tells us that Sarah was barren. Not simply that she had
no children, but that she was barren. See for yourself in Genesis 11:30. Now
that is surely something that could make a woman unhappy. Certainly one who
desperately wanted to be a mother as Sarah did would be displeased. Her money,
her beauty, her station, none of these could provide her with happiness. In
fact, we see that the beauty which we seem to prize so highly brought its own
form of torment for Sarah. Because she was beautiful, and because Abraham feared
to lose his life, he forced Sarah to lie. She had to pretend that she was his
sister, and ended up in Pharaoh’s household. Beauty didn’t bring Sarah
happiness, it apparently brought her heartache. We can learn that lesson from
her this mother’s day. It doesn’t matter how pretty we are, it doesn’t matter
how wealthy we are, it doesn’t matter our social standing, or even if our names
are on the who’s who pages of the city directory. What matters is how we live
our lives, the integrity that we maintain, and our walk with the Lord. External
beauty and material possessions do not guarantee our happiness, but living with
Christ will.
II. Helping God, Doesn’t
Sarah wanted children badly. So badly, she decided upon a scheme to help the
process along a bit. She told her husband in chapter 16 to take Hagar as his
wife. Now Hagar was an Egyptian, and was Sarah’s handmaiden. Abraham apparently
went along with his wife’s wishes, because in verse 4, we see that Hagar
conceived. This little plan backfired though. When Hagar became pregnant, Sarah
became intensely jealous. She demanded that Abraham do something! I can fully
picture her with her hands upon her hips, ranting and raving at poor ol’
Abraham, telling him exactly how it is HIS fault that he did her wishes. He
should have known better than to listen to her.
He told her that Hagar was her servant, and she could do what she willed. So she
dealt rather severely with her, and Hagar fled. And to this very day, the
descendants of Ishmael are a thorn in Israel’s side.
Sarah wanted something so badly, that she wasn’t willing to be patient. She
wasn’t willing to wait for God’s time, she wanted it on her timetable. The
lesson that we learn from this is that we don’t need to help God along. We don’t
need to scheme and plot, plan and promise, in order to receive God’s blessings.
We need to seek Him first, and all the rest will fall into place. Because of
Sarah’s actions, we can learn this lesson without experiencing it. We don’t need
to help God. He does the helping, we do the following. We must allow things to
happen in God’s time, and they will work out better than if we try to go it
alone.
III. God’s ideas are not laughable.
Gen 18:12 says "Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have
become old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" God sent the news
that Sarah herself would finally have a baby Now, Sarah didn’t laugh in the face
of the two messengers, but she did go off by herself and spare a chuckle or two.
Let’s look at it from her point of view. Both she and Abraham were well past
childbearing years. She knew that she could bear no children. Who wouldn’t have
laughed? Who wouldn’t have thought the idea of an elderly woman giving birth to
a child to be hilariously funny? She forgot one important fact though. She
forgot whose messengers they were. She forgot that the message came from God!
She scoffed, and she forgot that with God all things are possible. When God
gives us our instructions, who are we to question His judgment? God does not
always choose the Hollywood ideal to do a task. He generally chooses the person
most willing to conform to His ideal . What God tells us to do is no laughing
matter. It is usually a matter of most seriousness. We ought to learn from Sarah
and not laugh in the face of God. How many times have we refused to teach a
class, or visit a friend, or bake a cake, or prepare a meal because we thought
we were not capable? How many times have we passed a job on to someone else
because we felt that we were not the best suited for the job. How many times do
we think that God knows who is suited? The answer to the last question is EVERY
TIME. God knows best each time, and when we are presented with a challenge, we
can accomplish it with the help of the Lord.
IV. God Keeps His Promises
God made a promise to both Abraham and Sarah to provide them with a child. While
Sarah laughed in her heart, God still kept His word. His keeping of His promises
are not predicated by our own actions. When God gives his word, it is kept.
Chapter 21 verses 1-5 tell us the story. Sarah bore a son, and called him Isaac.
At the ripe old age of 100, Abraham finally had his son. And Sarah had her
child. It is amazing how things work well when we allow God to do things His
way, rather than our own way. We need to remember that in our daily lives. If
God said it, we can count on it God will always keep his promises to us no
matter what.
Sarah is one of the most famous mothers in all of scripture, and we can see much
in her life. We see in Sarah a mother that has faults. She is not a perfect
china doll of a woman. We see in Sarah a wife who loved her husband. We see in
Sarah woman like many of you today. Sarah started, and stumbled, and lurched her
way into motherhood and beyond. Let’s take our lesson from her today. Sarah
teaches us that beauty does not buy happiness, we cannot help God along, never
to underestimate what God says, and to remember that He will always come through
in the end.
E-mail the Pastor at mail@claimthevictory.org
Copyright 1997 by Rev. Charle S. Mims
