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

 

 

 

 

Waiting

 A Series on Living by Faith
(Use the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 17:15-19; Genesis 18:10-14; Hebrews 11:11-13

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

It feels like I spend a lot of my time waiting. I wait for my computer to respond. I wait on hold to be transferred while the voice tells me, “due to the pandemic, wait times are longer than normal”. I wait in line at the grocery store; at the McDonalds drive through; at the traffic light. Nothing seems to happen when I want it to happen… so I wait.

 

Waiting! We don’t like it, but it’s a part of everyday life. We get impatient and we want to take control. We want to make things happen. We want to be in charge.

 

Despite the Lord’s promise for descendants to fill the Promised Land, Abraham and Sarah didn’t have any children for decades. Like most of us who don’t get what we want when we want it, they decided to take things into their own hands by having a child with their servant Hagar. Bad idea!

 

As a result, Abraham and Sarah grew tired of waiting for the Lord. So much so that that they laughed at the Lord’s promise of a son.

 

¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”  Genesis 17 NIV

 

¹⁰ Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

¹² So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”                Genesis 18 NIV

 

And yet, in Hebrews we read that Sarah gave birth to Isaac, “by faith”.

 

¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.            NIV

 

So if you ever find yourself in a situation where you are tired of waiting… then remember Sarah. Remember too that the Lord is faithful, and then… wait some more!

Why? Because sometimes living by faith means waiting by faith.

 

¹³ All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.   Hebrews 11 NIV

 

Here are a couple of other cute pictures that I found that I just had to add.