Wait Like Sarah

 I treated myself this to this shirt this week.  I wanted to remember that there are strong women who have come before me and that I can learn from them if I put in the work to study their lives.

Sarah waited on the Lord.  Not perfectly and certainly aspects of it were out of her control.  She wanted to have children and that blessing hadn't come and in her old age must have seemed beyond the realm of possibility.  

She even came up with her own alternative plan based on the customs of the time and offered up her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to Abraham to provide him with posterity.  It didn't go as well as she had planned and resentment and conflict developed between Hagar and Sarah to the point that Hagar had to leave with her son, Ishmael.  

It gives me comfort to know that in her imperfection Sarah even laughed at the Lord when he promised her a child as she approached age 90.  She forgot that what we see as impossible may not be for Him.  Her faith wasn't perfect and she had moments of doubt.  But it was enough! She was told "Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee." (Genesis 18:14). 

And then Sarah tried to cover her tracks with a bit of denial.  "I laughed not" she said.  And He said actually you did.  

In what must have been a difficult pregnancy on an aging body, Isaac was conceived and born.  Nations would follow through this lineage. God's promises were fulfilled. 

How can I wait like Sarah? 

I can keep doing the part I know even as I wait for answers and clarity on the part I don't.  

I can resist rushing to forced solutions and trust his timing.  I can wait for "the time appointed" continuing to find and show gratitude for all that is right even while my fervent prayers continue.  

I can know that even when I have some doubts, even when I forget to trust Heaven's view, and even when I imperfectly try to cover my tracks that I can continue in goodness and trust in His promises.  

I can wait like Sarah.