By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10
I can’t just walk away from Sarah, yet. Listen, I admire this woman! While she made some HUMONGOUS mistakes, she rose above them in many ways. Look at the passage written out above. The bold print and underlining are my emphasis. Do you read between the lines when you read Scripture? We need to! I know this passage is about Abraham, but where Abraham went, Sarah was. What Abraham was involved in - well, Sarah was smack dab in the middle. So...as a woman, I ask you, How would you respond if out of the blue, no warning, your husband told you one day to pack up, because you were moving! Maybe you’d be delighted, because you are ready for a change. But then, your next question would be, “Where are we going?” What would you do if he said, “Dunno! God just said move and he’d show us as we went.” I’m not sure your reaction would have been to just submit, and with a quiet and gentle spirit leave all you knew behind. On top of that, please remember, Sarah was a Chaldean woman (this is where she and Abraham lived...probably right near current day Baghdad). She could have not even known who God was, let alone trust him enough to just “go.”
Yet, the passage we looked at last week said that part of Sarah’s inner beauty was her submissive heart - a heart that yielded and “did not give way to fear.” Ok...so maybe you could see yourself going, but what would be your “fear temperature?”
Does the word submission* make your blood boil? I know it does for some women! Yet Sarah, in spite of not really having a known faith (at that time) in God, was able to submit and go into the unknown without fear. I desperately want to be like that! The unknown is always the thing that scares me most. It is the one fear that is often at the center of my core, because it means I have no control over my next steps.
I guess my question is this: what, besides God’s grace, increases my capacity to submit and walk willingly into the unknown fearlessly? I have a few thoughts based on past experience. Indulge me, please.
TRUST. We can’t submit unless there is a level of trust. Sarah trusted Abraham. We know this because in the passage we looked at last week, Peter says that Sarah called Abraham, Lord. No, that was not the term of endearment she used...but rather an expression of her faith in her husband. One can’t say the words, “No, Lord.” So, obviously, it speaks to how Sarah felt about Abraham. Then, as that trust proved out, she began to develop trust in the one that Abraham put his faith in – the Creator God, Adonai.
KNOWLEDGE. We can’t submit without trust; we can’t trust without knowledge. The more I know you, and see your character, the more I trust you. It is that simple. Knowledge breeds respect; respect leads to trust; and trust yields.
VULNERABILITY. Knowledge involves risk-taking. It involves opening myself up to someone else and taking a chance on them. It’s a process of shared information, and finding complete safety and protection within that openness.
This says a lot about Abraham...but it also says a lot about Sarah. She was willing to take a chance on her very fallible husband, and the end result was BEAUTIFUL! (It is also our greatest expression of worship...where our relationship with the Lord is concerned.)
*Remember, submission does not mean being a door mat. It does not mean I cannot express my opinion. It does not mean that I am silent, passive, and just roll over and play dead. It simply means that I choose who my “headship” is and willingly let that one make the decisions. Takes a lot of pressure off of me, for sure!
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