26: Secrets Sarah Would Tell Every Wife

Have you ever read a Bible story for the second time and realized how much you missed the first time you read it? The story that comes to mind is the one of Sarah and Abraham. We tend to remember key parts of their marriage - but sometimes we miss what their marriage can teach us. In this episode, I am shedding light on those moments we may have missed and what Sarah would tell us about marriage. Between Abraham's questionable decisions and God's faithfulness, discover how trust, patience, and grace play a vital role in a successful marriage.

Top reasons to listen to the entire episode:

• Discover what Sarah would share with you if she had a chance to sit down and talk to you about marriage.
• Learn the consequences Sarah learned when taking matters into her own hands. 
• Gain a deeper understanding of couples' challenges in their faith journeys.

Mentioned Bible Verses:

Genesis 12-25 (NLT)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

You know, sometimes when we are reading the Bible, we're so familiar with passages that we don't really get all of its benefit. And I think the story of Abraham and Sarah is one of those. There are so many facets, twists, and turns to their story. You have got to read it for yourself in Genesis 12 through 25. I promise you you're going to see things that you never knew before. And I think there are a lot of secrets here that Sarah would share with you if she had the opportunity to talk to you about marriage. So listen in. Then girl, you've come to the right place. I'm Kimberly Knight, and this is the Position Podcast. As a certified coach, consultant, author, and speaker, I've had the privilege of helping women to position themselves for success in life, love, and business. So if you're ready for some wisdom wrapped up in a little bit of girlfriend, join me and other experts each week as we give you the conversation coaching and keys you need to take you to your next steps. Welcome to the Position Podcast. I am your host, Kimberly Knight, and today we are talking about secrets that Sarah would tell you that every wife needs to know. Now, most people are very aware of the story of Abraham and Sarah and them having a baby well into their old age. But there's a lot in that story that we as wives or future wives can take away from this story. Did you know that Abraham put Sarah into a harem, not once, but twice? Okay, so the first time, all right, you had a little lapse in your faith. That second time, mm-mm, that was a choice. Listen, here's the thing that gets me about that. He put her into the harem to save himself. So he was willing to compromise her virtue, her safety, their marriage. And in 1 Peter 3, 6, it still says she called him Lord. I I that's not the L word I would have used. I have a whole other word. But that passage in the New Living Translation says that Sarah obeyed her husband Abraham and called him her master or Lord. Small L. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fears of what your husbands might do. So I had to have a conversation with the Lord because when I got married, I was like, Father, um, yeah, there wouldn't have been a second time because that first time, that would have been it for Mr. Man. He would have been gone. You're out. Peace out. But the interesting thing here, and I think the most important thing to take away, is that even though Abraham did not cover her or protect her the way he could have or should have, God did. As a matter of fact, God dealt with the entire kingdom both times, once with plagues and another time with barrenness. So nobody could have babies. Nobody. That included the king's wives, it included the king's servants, it included his animals. He's like, I'm shutting everything down on her behalf. So here we have this great man of faith who didn't believe God enough to protect his wife, but his wife believed enough. Oh my gosh, catch that. There's going to be times when your husband may not be the prince charming you imagined, and he may have crises of faith that in the natural look like, oh my gosh, this is going to be our pure destruction. And that is your opportunity to trust God. And because of these things, she's named, um, amongst other things, she is named in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. So, ladies, when the word says, I'll reprove kings for your sake, this is what it means. This is at least one of the ways we can apply that. So, even when your husband messes up, even when he doesn't do all the things that he should do and could do to protect you or make the wisest of choices, God still got you. Hallelujah. Amen. Okay. So the next thing that was really interesting about their relationship, and their relationship was listen, these housewives of the Middle East Bible, I what the heck? Ain't got nothing on the housewives of today. I tell you, anyone who says that the Bible is boring has never read it from cover to cover. I'm just saying. Not only do we have him putting her in a harem, not once, but twice. Yeah, I'm still stuck on that, girls. Then there was this whole matter where he was promised that an entire nation would come from him, right? That his descendants would be more than the grains of sand on the shore. So, all the stars in the heaven. So when they decide to take matters into their own hands, Sarah says, I'm going to give you my maid, and perhaps God will give us a child through her. I just want to pause there for a minute. Girls, be wise. What the heckade? Are you going to really give your husband an extra wife so she can have the baby? I mean, that's the way they handled things at the time. But listen, we read over that, and I don't think we fully absorb that. You have to remember, this is not a time when you donated egg and sperm. This was a time when they had to keep having sex until she conceived, and then she wouldn't know she had conceived for several months. So this went on for some time. So now let's just get this straight. The wife, Sarah, says, Go have sex with my maid and make a baby. And Abraham, in all of his wisdom, goes, Okay. But listen, listen. There's just so much here. I could have like six more shows just on this, right? But here's the thing they do end up having a baby named Ishmael. And Ishmael is the result of them trying to fulfill God's promise in their natural strength. And the worst part of this is that God did not need their help. The only thing God really needs from us as Christians, as wives, is our cooperation and patience as we obey his instructions. And if he has not given us any instructions, then we can just ask for the grace to wait for his super to blow on our natural. But when we take matters into our own hands, we do things like telling our husbands to have sex with somebody else so we can have a baby. My God in heaven, I tilt. I'm just on tilt right now. I might need a session after this. I'm just on tilt. Here's something else that's interesting about that. They obviously messed up God's plan, right? Because we know the whole story. If you haven't read the story, go back and read the story. Here is the magnificent thing about grace, and grace really is amazing because even though we mess up his plan, it doesn't necessarily disqualify us from his blessing. And even though they created their own Ishmael, they were still blessed with Isaac. Herein lies the rub, girls. According to Genesis 25, 18, it says that Ishmael lived in conflict with his brethren or with his relatives until this day. Keep in mind that these nations that came from Abraham's loins are still in conflict to this day. So even though you can mess up and get the blessing, and that's the grace of God, it will come with a consequence. Because anytime we take matters into our own hands, we are going to end up with an Ishmael that is going to cause conflict in our lives. So let's be aware to really make sure that we're waiting on God and cooperating with his plan and his timing. Hallelujah. All right. So here's something else that I think Sarah would share with you if she could just sit down and have a conversation. God promised Sarah and Abraham that they would have a child within a year. They had a visitation, they were promised a child within a year, and there was no way in the natural that looked like it was going to come to pass. I mean, they were old. She was so far into menopause that it wasn't even paused, it was mena stopped. And Abraham, I believe, was 100 years old. So we're not, they're not, you know, doing monkey flips off the, you know, off the bedposts. So for them to be able to conceive naturally, you got to remember, there was nothing back in those times like sperm banks or any kind of medical intervention that could fix this. This had to be God. God kept his promise. And ladies, I want to tell you this: that as wives, you have got to clutch, hang on to, remember, rehearse, and pray through God's promise until it comes to pass. But it will come to pass, even if it looks impossible, even if in the natural, there's just no way. Even if your husband doesn't have the regular wisdom to bring it to pass, God can still do it. Yes? And amen. Side note Abraham and Sarah's son Isaac did the same thing to his wife, Rebecca, with the whole put her in the king's harem because I don't want him to kill me on your behalf. So just keeping in mind that whatever we don't conquer, we leave for our children to confront. So because Abraham never quite owned that and got that together, he left it for his child to fight. But that's a whole nother episode. So these are the secrets I believe Sarah would share with you if she had an opportunity to talk to you about marriage. I'd love to hear your thoughts. My contact information is in the show notes. Be sure to like and share the broadcast. Until next time, be wonderfully blessed. Bye now. That's a wrap. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you're listening so you never miss one. I would love it if you would share the podcast with your friends, post about it on Facebook and Instagram, or leave a review. That way you can help me to bring you more great content and expert guests. Until next week, be blessed.