Sarah

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.  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.” 

~Genesis 17:15-16

Both Sarai and Sarah mean "princess," revealing sarah's place as a mother of a nation.  Do you know the meaning of your name?  What significance does its meaning have for you?

• This made me chuckle when I read the first question. My name is Sarah, so I don't have to go into much research to find out its meaning.
• Well, I don't really feel like I'm a "princess" or even "Chieftaness" as the the title of this section also said what it's meaning was, and I don't know if I'll even feel like I'm either of those when I am married and have a family of my own.

If you were to ask God to change your name, what would you want your name to be, or mean?

• Actually, I like my name!  I don't know who would want to not be called a "princess" or "chieftaness".  Kind of makes me feel like I might have some power or control in life.  But, if I really have to choose, I think I would either have God change it to either Elizabeth, whcih means "God is my oath", or Rachel, whcih means "Ewe"

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

   Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.  So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

  Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’  Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

  Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

   But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

~Genesis 18:10-15

Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.  Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.  Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.  When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.  Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

  Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”  And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

~Genesis 21:1-7

Put yourself in Sarah's possition.  Do you think you might have laughed also?  Why or why not?

• Even though everything that god does and provides for us is no laughing matter, if I were as old as Sarah, I probably would have laughed too because a woman of that age is usually not able to bear children.

God fulfilled his promise to Abraham and Sarah in his time.  Describe how you think they felt about God's timing.

• I think that both Abraham and Sarah, both being believers of God, may have felt anxious for the time to arrive, but also trusted that God's promise woudl be fulfilled.

As you reflect on the story of Sarah and Abraham, how can you best wait for God to fulfill his promise to you?

• The best way I can think about waiting for God's promise for me is by praying to him, and asking that he will give me the patience and strength to get through every day until that promise is fulfilled.

“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. 

~Genesis 16:6

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

 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

   But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

~Genesis 18:12, 15

and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” 

~Genesis 21:10

Choose five adjectives that describe Sarah.  In what ways are you similar to Sarah?  In what ways are you ulike her?

•  mean, spiteful, full of pride, jealous, doubtful
• I would say that I can tend at times to be either full of pride or jealous.  Sometimes I find that I want to be so good at something, that I might try to sell myself a little over the top when maybe I would be that great at something.  As for jealousy, if someone wants something that I also want really bad, then I might be a little less friendly towards someone (which I know is wrong).
• Most of the time, I'm really not mean to anyone.  If I'm angry, then that could tend to be the case.  The same would probably go for being spiteful, I guess.  I very much try to not stay in doubt.  I'm still looking for a job right now and of course I've had my doubts now and then if I ever will have one.  The important thing is that I need to keep listening to those who do have hope in me. 

God used Sarah in spite of her failings, her impatience.  How can God use you in spite of your imperfections?

• I think I could say, in spite of my visual impairment hardships, God has used my memorization skills to become a good musician

Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.  Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.  Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.  When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.  Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

  Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”  And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

~Genesis 21:1-7

What did Sarah say when she gave birth to Issac?  Why do you think she said this?

• “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
• I believe she said this because when she also talks to her friends that believe in God, they will laugh because she doubted what God said what would happen to her.

Describe a time in your life that God "brought you laughter".

• God brought me laughter when one time I was doubting something would happen the way I hoped it might, and then in a moments time, that hope actually came true.