Women in the Bible: An Innovative Wife
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. – Genesis 16:1-4
Our second learning point from Sarah, Abraham’s wife, shall dwell mostly on her innovative mindset. She was a selfless woman and an innovative wife who sought inventive ways to solve her family’s problems, even when such solutions might not work out in her favor.
Our reference passage today starts with the problem of barrenness in Abraham’s household. After decades of marriage, the union produced no child despite God’s firm promise otherwise. Meanwhile, as the couple continued to age and advance in years, Sarah could no longer bear it, and what she did next taught us three important lessons.
Firstly, Sarah demonstrated an unusual selflessness in the idea she brought forward. Seeing that her own childlessness might harm her husband by depriving him of the privilege of having an heir(ess) to inherit his vast estate, Sarah thought it best that Abraham take up another woman and have a child by her.
This is not an easy proposal for anyone to make, let alone to execute. But Sarah was looking beyond herself and focusing more on her husband’s needs when she broached it. She was also genuine enough to make the move good and was not just saying it to look good. She was sincere and earnest. She brought the maidservant to Abraham to have a child by her.
The second lesson we can learn from Sarah is her innovative mindset and approach to tackling a problem. Seeing that she was past her prime, she felt it best to propose that her husband marry someone younger and have a child through her. By so doing, she initiated the idea of surrogacy to the world, as the child to be born would be in her and her husband’s name, even though born by another. In an era not renowned for its innovations, Sarah proved that genius was not restricted to gender, age or place. She practically bequeathed the idea of surrogacy to us.
Another lesson we can learn from Sarah is the ability to follow through and back her words with action. She did not just say it to look good or sound politically correct; she meant it and went ahead and handed over her maid to her husband to father a child through her. Even though this later backfired on her, it was a move worth it in the daring she demonstrated by pushing it, and the result that it fetched them.
The world needs more doers than talkers, more proactive people than reactive ones, and more innovative thinkers-cum-performers than manufacturers of excuses. Sarah, through her actions, proved to us that she was all of these and more. Many of us can learn a lot from her.
Selah!
Also read:
- The Benefits of Wisdom: Privileged Companions
- Employees in the Bible: The One Not So Smart
- Wait
- His First Book
- God Really Broke Through for Me
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