LOSER!!!

   A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 17:1-22

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

Loser! What image does that word bring to your mind? 

The team that lost a game in overtime? Or the one that got beaten so badly it was embarrassing? A homeless person panhandling on a street corner? A geek; a convict; a dork; an addict; an obese person? The person in your office who can’t do anything right? Yourself?

 

I think Sarai may have felt like a loser most of her life.

 

Due to a severe famine in Canaan, Sarai and Abram traveled to Egypt. Before entering, Abram told Sarai to lie; to say that she wasn’t his wife, but his sister. He said this because she was so beautiful that he feared for his life. This happened not once, but twice.

 

I would imagine that, as a result of Abram’s request to lie, that Sarai could easily have felt like a piece of property; like she didn’t matter; like a loser.

 

Also, Sarai couldn’t conceive. This was a source of great shame; of self-loathing; of failure. As a result, Sarai suggested to Abram that he take their servant Hagar as a concubine to conceive a descendant. Which he did. But this caused even more problems because then Hagar despised Sarai; and Sarai mistreated Hagar.

 

Despite all that she had done to please her husband, Sarai most likely felt like a complete failure because she was unable to fulfill the most important role of a woman in that culture; to bear children, and provide a descendant for her husband. Her identity was defined by her failure.

 

But that isn’t how God defined her.

 

She is commended for her faith in Hebrews 11. Then in Galatians 4, she is recognized as the mother of the covenant nation in an allegorical comparison between her and Hagar. Sarai was not a loser!

 

It’s important for us to remember Sarai’s story; her faith; her legacy. Because we all go through periods where we fail; where we feel like a loser. The Good News is that even if we feel like a failure, the Lord is at work in our life; He can turn our failure into His victory; He can accomplish His will in our life.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams