The Ruby Blossom

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is probably one of the most well-known female characters of the Bible. There is no question that Mary was a special woman and there are many different lessons that her life could teach us about being a mother. However, I want to focus on one lesson that probably many people have never thought about: releasing your idea of how your child should be fulfilling their ministry or calling.

There are many prophecies concerning Jesus’ conception, gestation, birth, identity, ministry on earth, and death [Check out Luke 1 & 2 and Matthew 1 & 2 for a more complete story of Jesus conception and birth]. Some scholars believe there are over 300 prophecies regarding Jesus in the Old Testament (Jesus Film Project). JesusFilm.org mentions 55 of these prophesies and where the fulfillment of them are mentioned in the New Testament. Not to mention all the many signs that accompanied His life. With so many prophecies about Jesus you would think that once the messiah would appear there would be no question about what he would do on the earth but as we read through the Gospels we discover that there were many different ideas about how the Messiah should act and what he would accomplish. Jesus challenged the ideas of the Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, Herodians, and at times even his own disciples and family. In fact, in two of the four Gospel accounts (Mark & John) Mary is hardly mentioned and when she is mentioned there seems to be negative overtones concerning her and the rest of Jesus’ earthly family. I think that there is even some biblical evidence that Mary, though she heard some of these prophecies directly from Jewish prophets or messengers (like Anna & Simeon) and Angels, had some different ideas from time to time of what Jesus should be doing on the earth that contrasted with what Jesus was actually doing.

1. The first hint we get of this could possibly be in Luke 2:33-35, “His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about Him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and told His mother Mary: ‘Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed— ³⁵ and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’” First off, Mary and Joseph both were visited by Angels prior to Jesus’ birth. Joseph was told that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was going to save His people from their sins (Matt 1:20-21). While Mary was told that He would be called the Son of God, the Son of the Most High, and that He would rule on David’s throne forever (Luke 1:28-35). After, each of them being visited by an Angel, I am surprised that they were both amazed by what people had to say about Jesus as an infant. But it is unclear if Joseph and Mary ever shared with each other what the Angels had said to them about Jesus individually. Joseph was told Jesus was going to save the Jews from their sin, while Mary was told Jesus was going to rule on David’s throne forever. In verse 34 Simeon is talking about the salvation that would be made available through Christ and that many Jews will oppose Him while others will welcome Him. At the time, many believed that when the Messiah came, He would overturn the Roman rule and set the Israelites free to rule themselves as a sovereign nation. When it later became clear that Jesus had no intention of overthrowing Rome, many turned on him and demanded His death. Verse 35 warns Mary of the her own pain she would suffer watching her son die, yet at the time she did not understand what Simeon had meant by the words he said. Each person was given information on just part of Jesus’ purpose on the earth, no one got a full explanation of how He was to accomplish each of these purposes or ever when they would happen.

2. Years later we get another glimpse into Mary’s understanding of who Jesus was. When Jesus was 12 years old he stayed behind asking and answering questions in the Temple after His parents had visited Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41-51). At the time, His parents did not realize that he was not traveling in their group and had to go back and search for Him in the city for 3 days! THREE DAYS! ALONE! WITH NOTHING! I’m sure they were livid when they found Him, asking “Son, why have You treated us like this? We’ve been searching anxiously for You.” Yet, even at 12 years old, it appears Jesus had a clear understanding of who He was and what He needed to be doing. He replied, “why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” However, His parent’s were completely clueless about what He had said to them. Before Mary approaches Jesus to talk to Him, scripture says that they (His parents) were astonished when they found Him. Some questions that arises when I read this passage are: what exactly did Mary and Joseph find astonishing about this situation? Was it the fact that Jesus seemed in his element? Were they astonished that He didn’t seem bothered to be apart from them? Was it the astounded crowds that Jesus had attracted in the Temple that they were surprised by? Was it something else? We aren’t told the answer, we are only told of their response to the situation: astonishment and confusion.

3. In John 2:1-12 we find out that Jesus first miracle was not initiated by Him but by His mother Mary. This miracle is when Jesus turns water into wine at a wedding (for a deeper understanding of the meaning of this miracle click here). In short, Mary comes to Jesus and tells Him that the Bride and Groom have ran out of wine (a huge social blunder). Jesus basically tells her the matter has nothing to do with Him and that His hour has not yet come (John 2:4). Jesus was referring to his death and resurrection in this statement and about revealing His glory. In the passage, it appears Mary completely ignores His comment and tells the servants to do what Jesus says and Jesus graciously obeys her request at this time. Though the statements are brief I think it reveals a discrepancy between Mary’s idea of what Jesus should be doing and what Jesus was actually suppose to be doing. She wanted Him to fix the situation while in return Jesus used it to teach a lesson about why He had truly come to earth: to cleanse the inside of us and bring abundant life to all who would put their faith in Him not just to do good works.

4. Another passage that reveals this discrepancy between ideals of Jesus’ calling and ministry is in Mark 3:20-35. In this passage, Jesus had a huge crowd show up at the house He was staying at. Verse 21 tells us that when His family heard about what was going on they thought He was “out of His mind” and went to stop Him from doing what He was doing. In verse 31 His mother, brothers, and sisters (vs 32) show up at the house and ask Him to come out. They make an attempt to stop Him but Jesus doesn’t budge. He begins to discuss the topic of spiritual family instead. At this moment He probably shocked everyone in the house listening to Him for not immediately leaving the house to meet them. The passage never tells us if Jesus heeds their calls but does end the chapter by saying that His family are those who do God’s will (vs 35). This passage always makes me think of how those closest to Jesus; His mother, brothers, and sisters did believe in who He said He was. I don’t blame His siblings for their unbelief. They didn’t have angels tell them who their eldest brother was. There may have been sibling revelry between the brothers like in many families. Maybe they blamed Jesus for their family’s reputation in the community, since Mary was pregnant with Jesus prior to being married, and now Jesus was attracting all this attention. Even Jesus in all four gospels mentions that a prophet has no honor in his hometown or among His family (John 4:44, Luke 4:16-30, Matthew 13:54-58, and Mark 6:1-6).

I personally think that it wasn’t until Jesus death and more specifically His resurrection that Mary grasped a fuller and more complete understanding of who her son was: God in the flesh and His purpose on the earth. Luke 19:26 tells us Mary was near the cross when He died. His death surely pierced her soul and revealed even her own heart to herself. Also, it is not until Acts 1:14, that we find for the first time Mary and the rest of her sons, being mentioned as being “continually united in prayer” with the other disciples and female followers. Jesus even personally went to James, His brother after Jesus resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:7). A full reading of the Gospels and Acts shows Mary’s faith and by mentioning a few times of her own astonishment at what was said about her son, even after the amazing announcement to her from the Angel of the Lord, and showing a few instances of when Mary may have had inaccurate ideas about what her son should be doing while on earth, shows us her growth as a believer and her humanness.

Mary was not some super human, who got everything right. Only Jesus can claim the title of spotless and perfect. However, she did get a lot of things right. She had that faith that grew from a small seed into a mustard tree, we must remember that just as trees need time to grow from a seed to a fully mature tree, so does our faith. Somewhere along Mary’s journey in understanding who her son was, whatever cultural influences of what the Messiah should be doing and how He would act needed to be refined and reformed. The same is true for us as mother’s today.

We do not have the luxury or the burden of knowing all the details of God’s plan for the lives of our children. We may not always understand what God is calling our children to or how He wants to use our children to accomplish what He has called them to: their specific purpose/calling/ministry. However, we can help set the stage for our kids to learn to listen to the call of the Holy Spirit and learn how to respond to that call. Starting at birth we nurture them, teach them, show them, guide them. As they get older we leave them room to try ‘it’ out on their own in small ways. As they continue to grow and mature we give them more and more space. That way when it’s time, we can release them to embark on life’s journey independently with confidence; while being available for continued guidance, prayer, and support.

There will be no other child born on earth to be the propitiation of sin for the whole world. Not every believer is called to missions overseas. But every believer is called to live their life to glorify God and point others to Christ in all that they do. Some may be called to prestigious careers; blue collar jobs or white collar jobs. Some may be called to being stay at home mothers, even if just for a season. Some may be called to politics, health care, computer science, math, physics, gas station attendance, teachers, cashiers, wait staff, etc… Our children don’t have to make $100K a year to make an impact in the Kingdom. They just have to learn to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and obey His voice. Mary’s impact came when she listened, accepted, obeyed what God had asked of her. Jesus’ impact happened because He had learned to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance and instructions. Our impact and that of our children’s is also dependent on listening and obeying the Holy Spirit. Even when that means laying down our own ideas of what that should look like.

Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.  John 5:19-20

This post I wanted to talk about Hannah. I’ve been reading and rereading her story over the last few weeks and there is just so much to learn from it. The story of Hannah is one that deeply moves me. I sometimes look at her and what she did and think “wow, I don’t know if I could have done that.” Despite the difficulty, Hannah was a person of her word and the Lord blessed her for keeping it. Hannah’s story is one that has so many lessons to teach us today it was hard to put a tag line to her name. So who was this remarkable woman and how is her story relevant to the modern mother?

Who was she? Hannah’s story is found in 1st Samuel 1-2:21 HCSB (If you’re not familiar with the Bible, that’s towards the front of the book *wink). Hannah is the wife of Elkanah, an Ephraimite (1 Sam 1:1,2). She was unable to have children so her husband married a second wife who was able to have many children (1 Sam 1:2). Elkanah loved Hannah and always treated her very special (1 Sam 1:5). He also tried to comfort her in her sorrow over not being able to have children but it didn’t really work (1 Sam 1:8). Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, would constantly harass Hannah over her inability to have children year after year (1 Sam 1:6,7). Scripture calls Peninnah Hannah’s rival so I think it’s safe to assume that Peninnah was jealous of Hannah even though it was Hannah who couldn’t have children. Maybe Peninnah realized that she only was asked to marry Elkanah because Hannah could not get pregnant (1 Sam 1:6). In Hannah’s “deep hurt” she pours out her heart before God and makes this vow: “Lord of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” She is so distraught over not being able to have children and having it constantly smeared in her face that the priest at the tabernacle thought she was drunk! She responds to the priest saying that she isn’t drunk but has a broken heart and is “praying from the depth of [her] anguish and resentment (1 Sam 1:15-16).” The priest than tells her to go home and basically intercedes for her, asking that God would grant her request, though he is completely clueless about her situation (1 Sam 1:17). Hannah than goes home feeling hopeful and in time she becomes pregnant and has a son (1 Sam 1:18-20). She names him Samuel and once he is fully weaned (which was typically around 5 years old at this time) she takes him back to the priest who had previously seen her and leaves him there to serve in the tabernacle, as well as presents many costly sacrifices to the Lord (1 Sam 1:23-28). Once Hannah drops Samuel off at the tabernacle she prays to God, worshiping God for who He is (His omniscience, omnipotence, holiness, and sovereignty) and His many blessings (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Hannah’s love and motherly devotion didn’t end once Hannah left Samuel at the tabernacle. When Hannah and Elkanah came to the tabernacle every year to offer the required annual sacrifices to the Lord, Hannah would bring Samuel a little robe that she had made him ( 1 Sam 2:18-19). So even though Hannah was separated from her son for the majority of the year she thought of him often. Her story ends with this line: The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord (1 Sam 2:21 HCSB).

That phrase in 1 Sam 2:21 HCSB really catches my attention: The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need….. As believers in Christ Jesus we can rest assured that the Lord pays attention to our needs even in those moments we feel that God is completely oblivious to what is going on in our lives. The Bible never tells us how long Hannah had to endure the taunts of Penninah. We know that it had to have been at least 4 years, since the texts says that Penninah had sons and daughters. It very likely could’ve been many more years. In the days of Hannah, having no children was a disgrace. She would have had very little social standing in the community and it may have even been extremely difficult for Hannah to have friends but yet Hannah was loved by her husband. Penninah is never given a voice in the text and is only referred to by her standing as a wife to Elkanah, her ability to have children, and actions towards Hannah. It never even says Penninah was loved and most likely she was not; second wives rarely are. Also, in the story there is never any dialogue between Hannah and her co-wife, only a reference of their strained relationship.

With no where to turn for comfort, Hannah turns to the Lord and pours out her heart before Him. Today God is still waiting for His children to pour out their hearts to Him. Psalms 51:17 tells us that God does not despise a broken and humble heart and that when we come to Him in this state, it pleases Him. It’s not the brokenness He is pleased with but that fact that we came to Him without putting on a show; we came to Him being real, open and honest about our current condition and we recognize that only He can help us. How often do we turn to other people asking for their help before we turn to God? We turn to: medicine, doctors, education, the “professionals,” etc; all before turning to God, if we turn to Him at all. Is it because deep inside we don’t really think God can help us? I’m not sure of the answer. Yet here Hannah is, pouring out her heart for a child.

Hannah, in her grief was mistaken for being drunk. Have you ever had someone misjudge you because they didn’t understand where you were coming from? Have you ever misjudged someone else because you didn’t understand where the other person was at? I know I have. Just recently the Lord has been speaking to me about how we as human beings tend to misjudge others positively or negatively: either I think ____ is either “better” than I am or I think that ______ is “worse” than I am. All the while we miss that fact that in the eyes of God we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that each of us are given different gifts for different functions (Rom 12:3-8). The Apostle Paul even warns us not to think of ourselves as more highly than we ought to (Rom 12:3). It don’t know about you but it is a struggle for me to keep a right perspective of myself at all times. I, more often than I like, find myself in the battle of comparison thinking “that person” is better than me or I’m better than “that person” instead of just being content in the season of life I am in or even just finding contentment in who God made me as a person. I think as mother’s it comes in the form of “mom guilt.” C-section or vaginal birth? Epidural or “all natural.” Breastfeed or bottle feed? Work inside the home as a stay at home mom or work outside the home? If you have a higher education prior to having children, why aren’t you working? Private school, public school, or home school? Am I living in the right neighborhood? Sports or no sports? OMG I can’t believe my kid just said that to the neighbor! They must think I’m a terrible parent. And the scenarios can go on and on. The world is constantly taunting us just as Penninah taunted Hannah in the area she was most insecure in. Yet what did Hannah do once God answered her prayer?

Hannah could have held on the Samuel. She could have said “you know what Lord, that vow/promise I made well…. It’s too hard, I can’t give up my son whom I suffered for and prayed for.” Yet when Samuel was old enough to be weaned, Hannah brought him to the tabernacle along with expensive sacrifices and gave them all to the Lord. Hannah had her deepest desire met by God and she turned around and gave God not only what He had given her but also more (her son and the other offerings) and she poured out her heart again before the Lord, but this time it was a loud and joyful declaration of the power and sovereignty of God. She did not mourn over giving up the son she so longed for but she rejoiced in having the chance to fulfill her vow in the first place. Plus I think Hannah knew that there was no better place for her son to grow up than living a life in the presence and in the service of the Almighty God. Hannah released her son to the Lord and I think today God is looking for parents who willingly release their children to the Lord and make it a priority to teach their children about God and to give them opportunities to serve Him.

Hannah released her son to the Lord at a very young age. Research today shows us that the first few years of life are very formative, so Hannah and Elkanah’s influence at home during those few years still helped set the stage for Samuel’s life. While we may not be releasing our children at such as young age but we still have a “releasing” to do. We have to release our own dreams and ambitions for our kids. Sometimes it’s a releasing of how we think they should act or behave. We do have the responsibility to raise our children in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, which includes: teaching them about God’s character, teaching God’s standards for living, giving them opportunities to encounter God on a regular basis, teaching them to pray and how to live godly lives (Prov 22:6). However, we don’t always know the plans God has for our children and the calling He has placed on their lives and even if we do know, it is only in part and how that calling(s) will be fulfilled could be completely different than how we imagine as parents. Heck, so often we (as parents/adults) are still trying to figure out our own “assignment” in a particular season! Ultimately, the Lord holds our children, we don’t. Heaven forbid we get to heaven and see God face to face and He ask us “why did you hinder your children from obeying my call?”

Hannah sacrifice to God ultimately brought her great honor as a mother. In being a woman of her word and making the sacrifice necessary to make sure that Samuel was raised in the presence of the Lord to serve Him; Samuel went on to be a prophet, the last judge of Israel, and he anointed the first two kings of Israel. Samuel and his parents stood in stark contrast to the priestly family whom he would serve under. l Samuel 1:12-17 tells us of the extreme wickedness of the son’s of the Priest that Hannah had give her son to raise and serve under. Scripture tells us they had “no regard for the Lord (1:12), they treated the Lord’s offering with contempt (1:17), and they were sleeping around with the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting (2:23). Though the priest did confront his son’s behavior and leave them with a warning, he did not remove them from their positions as priests (2:22-36). Thus a stark contrast is made between the family of Hannah and the family of the Priest. Hannah’s family honored the Lord while the Priest’s family did not. Ultimately Hannah’s family was given the blessing of children and honor in relation to Samuel, while the Priest and his two sons would eventually die all on the same day (1 Sam. 4).

I think the more I mediate on the few chapters of Hannah’s story the more I discover there is to learn from it. So to not keep you here for hours, I think I will end with a summary of what lessons I have gleaned from her so far:

1. God always pays attention to our needs and responses.
2. It is easy to draw conclusions about others based on our own assumptions.
3. God does things in His own timing, not in ours.
4. God always blesses our sacrifices; in some ways we expect and in many ways that we do not.
5. Ultimately it is the Lord who holds our children. He is the one who protects them and leads them into their destiny’s if our children learn to listen to His voice.
6. God still desires that His people will follow Him regardless of the current leadership.

This last point I didn’t talk specifically about previously but if you look at the story of Hannah you will notice a stark contrast between the leadership who was suppose to be godly and Hannah’s family who did all that was required by God’s law every year. I find this point particularly admonishing in today’s world. How often in the Church have we seen leaders who are caught in sin and sometimes even promoting it on the world stage (when I say Church I mean all denominations who claim Christ as the Son of God). Regardless of these ungodly leaders who should know better, God still desires a godly people to display His goodness, majesty, and power among the earth. No one is without excuse, especially those who claim to be followers of Christ. God will deal with each of individual regarding there sin. Either we come before God presenting Jesus as our sacrifice for our sin, presenting the fruit that comes from that belief or we stand before Him on our own righteousness. It’s not that God expects us to be perfect but He does expect us to live a lifestyle of repentance and follow His Word the best we can.

I encourage each of you to spend your own time in 1 Samuel 1 & 2. What pops out to you? What have you read today that spoke to you in your current situation? I know for me I have to consistently remind myself that God is holding my children. Today was a perfect reminder of that. Long story short, I got locked out of my house and my toddler son got locked in a running van this morning while I was trying to leave the house for a doctors appointment. Thankfully my neighbor was home and let me use their phone to call my husband’s work because mine was locked in the van too! My toddler didn’t mind being in his car seat in the van and was perfectly content. I stood out in the cold near his window while I waited for my husband to show up so I could get my spare van key in the house. Inside I was panicking but also trying to stay calm by praying and singing to the Lord. Once I saw my husband I burst into tears. Thankfully the whole thing only took 20-30 minutes and everything was fine. I did end up making it to my appointment on time and my friend who was going to watch my son while I was there waited patiently for my arrival. In my moment of need I cried out to the Lord and he brought people to my aid and all was well in the end. He was watching out for my son the whole time. I’m sure if you sit and think for a few minutes about God’s protection and provision in your life, you too may have a similar story. The God we serve is so kind, but He is also just. He never turns any away who come to Him.

This year has been quite, well… unexpected. The year 2020 will definitely go down in the history books as one of the hardest and strangest years in the 21st century. Who would have thought that something so small, so tiny that you need a super powered microscope to see, would dramatically affect the whole world in such a short time. For me personally, COVID-19/SARS-COV-2, has been a stark reminder that I have very little control over what happens in my life. The only thing I truly have any say in is how I choose to respond to what happens to me, my husband, my children, and the world around me. The same is true for how I choose to respond to my spouse and/or my children when they make choices that do not line up with my wishes on behavior or attitudes. Just as I can not make my children obey me or control what my husband does, I can not make politicians, neighbors, my boss, coworkers, the other driver on the road, etc… bend to my every whim and desire. However, what I can do is control how I choose to respond to: the neighbor who’s marijuana smoke blows into my back yard while my kids are playing there, the driver who cut me off on the interstate, the coworker who always seems to have it out for me, or my husband whom I think totally just ignored what I said and inadvertently hurt my feelings. Ultimately our response is our responsibility and at the end of the day we choose the way we react. We can not blame anyone else for our actions but ourselves. I’m not saying that this is easy. Absolutely not! It is so hard sometimes, especially when emotions are bubbling. So what do we do when all of a sudden things go from pretty good or even awesome to the pits? Let’s take a quick look at what Job’s Wife has to teach us about when things take a turn for the worst. Maybe Job and his wife had a 2020 kind of year…. or maybe it was worse.

Who was Job’s Wife? We are never given the name of Job’s wife. Actually, in the whole book of Job, his wife is only mentioned 3 times and she only speaks once in the whole 42 chapters of Job. Don’t think for a minute that Job’s wife doesn’t have something to teach us because she totally does! We know that Job and his family were very rich, owning over 1,000 livestock of various types, had numerous servants, and is noted as being “the greatest man among all the people of the east” (Job 1:3). Maybe Job was like the Warren Buffet of his day? Job’s wife gave birth to 7 sons and 3 daughters (Job 1:2). It is believed she is his only wife because every time the word “wife” is used in the book it is always in the singular form, never plural. Job is also noted to be “a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1).

The story of Job goes something like this: Satan presents himself before God and God points out how awesome Job is (Job 1:6-8). Satan claims Job is only so great because God is protecting him and will not allow Satan to do him any harm (Job 1:9-10). So God basically says “okay Satan, you can do whatever you want to him but you can’t touch Job (Job 1:11-12).” Satan leaves and then in one day Job discovers that he has had all his livestock either stolen or burned in a wild fire, all his children have died due to a house collapsing in a storm, and only 4 servants have escaped so that they could tell him of each of these disasters. If all this happened to me in one day I think I’d curl up in a ball and cry until I had no tears left to cry and pass out from exhaustion but Job acts just as God expected him too (Job 1:13-19). He falls to the ground and worships God and did not sin or blame God for anything that had happened to him (Job 1:20-22). Sometime later, Satan presents himself before God and God mentions Job’s greatness again and that even though Satan wanted him destroyed without just cause, Job still remains perfect in integrity (Job 2:1-3). Satan again accuses Job of only being great because God is protecting his body and that any person would curse God if their health was taken away (Job 2:4-5). So again, God allows Satan to mess with Job but commands that Job’s life must not be taken from him (Job 2:6). The important thing to absorb here is that though Satan is powerful, he has his own set of boundaries that he is required to work within. Satan can not do whatever he pleases. If God says “no” Satan must obey.

So, here is Job’s wife. She has also just watched everything she and Job have worked for disappear in a day; literally everything is gone in one (1) day! She also lost all 10 of her children die in a moment. Sometimes I wonder if they had buried all their children in one grave or if each of them received their own tomb. Did they even have money left to properly bury their children? The text never says. I’m sure the grief was overwhelming for Job’s wife. I have never lost a child, let alone all of my children at once; it must have seemed unbearable. Now to make matters worse, her husband was suffering physically as well; sitting in the ash heap, scraping his skin with pot shards because of the boils on his skin (Job 2:8). She comes to Job and this is what she says: “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die! (Job 2:9).” She just told Job to do the very thing that Satan told God Job would do if he lost his physical health; curse God.

I can’t be mad at Job’s wife for her comment. If I was in her shoes I can picture myself doing something similar. At this point in the story I can just imagine her looking at the physical state her husband is in, his physical suffering, coupled with their emotional suffering, and thinking life is not worth living! Death is a relief! She recognized that his additional suffering was related to his integrity because she specifically mentions it, however, she probably believes one of two things: 1) he has not been as integral as he had seemed and reckoned that all the disaster that had come to them was do to a lack of integrity (which is what everyone else in the story believes) or 2) she knows her husband’s character well, sees it as worthless in preventing this disaster and blames God for their current situation (which is how scholars interpret the text). She could even be blaming Job for their current suffering and thinking that if he died things would be better since the suffering came because of him. So not only does it appear she has grown resentful towards God for their current situation but also towards her husband. According to one commentary I read, Job seems surprised by his wife’s response to their suffering and tells her “should we only accept good from God and not adversity? (Job 2:10).” Wow Job, wow! What a statement in such circumstances!

Job and his wife give us completely opposite responses regarding the attitude that we can have when bad things happen to us in life. In our grief we can either raise our fists to heaven and blame God and others for our situations and become resentful and angry towards God or we can choose to worship God and believe that in God’s sovereignty that He is still right, just, and good even when we have no answers for why the current circumstances are what they are.

Just in Job’s day, there is still the idea in the Church today that if anything bad happens in life; if you’re not blessed financially, or if you don’t appear to “prosper” materially than it is a direct consequence of something you have done. Although there is a Biblical principle of sowing and reaping (that means that what you “plant” is what you “grow” in life), not everything in life is a result of something that you have done. The life of Job attests to this; he was a man of “perfect integrity” who did absolutely nothing wrong in the eyes of God yet he went through an incredible amount of suffering. Jesus, himself, also addresses this issue. In John 9:1-3, the disciples ask Jesus if a man who was born blind was blind because of his sin or his parent’s sin. Jesus replies that he was not born blind because of sin but so that God’s power could be put on display! Jesus then heals the man of his blindness and many people are amazed at what had happened. Jesus also warns us that life will have suffering but encourages us to have courage because He has conquered the world and that we can have peace in Him (John 16:33). James 1:2-18 encourages believers to rejoice in our hard times because they can help increase our faith, help us gain endurance, and helps us grow into maturity as believers. These hard times/ trials also will lead us to God’s blessing if we do not give up. Hard situations reveal our hearts. These circumstances reveal the hidden properties within us that many times can not come to light if we hadn’t been pressed. No one likes difficult situations, no one. Job was not enjoying his time in the ash heap but Scripture promises that God works all things for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28), even those things that seem unbearable and we never get an answer for “why Lord?” For Job and his wife, their suffering revealed each of their internal attitudes towards God; one pleased the Lord and the other did not.

When my eldest son was around one and a half years old he was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy as well as some other food allergies he has since grown to tolerate (excluding the peanut). It was scary. To be honest fear sometimes still creeps up at times. Satan swept in like an approaching army and he was ready to pounce on my fears when ever the opportunity arose. My son is now five and a half and his allergy number is still close to 100 for peanut, though his last test did go down instead of jump up, for that I am thankful. At one point I remember having a conversation with my husband that if our son died because of a peanut that I would be mad a God for “a while” because He has the power to heal my son and I am under the strong conviction that if as a believer we can “drink deadly poison (Mark 16:18)” than surely food should not kill us! I remember my husband looking at me and telling me that if our son died from a peanut, it would not be God’s fault, it is just a consequence of being in a world with sin. This prospective smack me right between the eyes. It has taken some time for me to processes my feelings about this hypothetical but very real possibility. As a mom loosing a child can be devastating. I personally know a few mom’s who have had to bury their children, one at 3 months from SIDS and one at 16 years due to heart failure. The pain was horrendous but the joy these ladies have now and what they did in the midst of their grief has been so inspiring. Another woman who comes to mind is one who has now gone on to be with the Lord. I meet her over 10 years ago. She was the most joyous and inspirational woman I had ever meet. If you met her you would have never known she was dying of cancer. She was so full of life and had excitement for every day. You would often hear her say that she would live every day the Lord had assigned for her and that her days would not be cut short. She was in excruciating pain, especially at the end. I remember visiting her in the hospital in her last month of life popping narcotics for the pain which she said never went away and never got any less but even at the end she was so full of love and joy. Of all the people I had known over the years who had died and passed on, her death was the only one I sobbed over. She had fought the good fight, she had overcome and now she was with Jesus and truly free from her suffering.

So, how do we respond when it feels like our world is crashing down around us? Do we curse God and place the blame on Him? Or do we worship God for who He is and rest in His sovereignty, knowing that even this He will work for our good? The story of Job and his wife did not end in the ash heap and yours doesn’t have to end there either. The Bible tells us in Job 42:10-17 that in the end Job’s health was completely restored to him and he and his wife had 7 more sons and 3 more daughters and Job lived many more years. Plus they were blessed twice as much as before their suffering began! Those who believed Job’s suffering was due to wrong doing on his part were ultimately proven wrong and their misunderstanding of God’s character was addressed (Job 42:7-9).

If you are reading this than your story is not yet over. Whatever trial, hard time, or suffering you are going through right now, God is able to redeem it. He can take your situation and turn it around for your good and for the good of those around you. You may never have a “why” for your suffering just as Job didn’t. I’m not here to tell you why this particular situation happened to you but I know that God was/is there, He saw/sees it, He felt/feels your pain and He was/is also grieved by the situation. God loves you, even when you don’t feel like He does. Thank God His character does not change based on our feelings or our situations. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hew 13:8); His word never changes (1 Peter 1:25), and He cannot lie (Num 23:19).

“For as heaven is higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

If you’re looking for a perfect mom, or even perfect person in the Bible; I’m happy to inform you that outside of Jesus Christ, you are not going to find one. Motherhood can be tough… it is tough. Being a mom is a never ending assignment with constant demands and ever shifting schedules. However, the rewards are numerous despite the struggles that sometimes seem daily. For some moms, motherhood seemed almost sprung upon them (like me!). For these moms, they neither tried to have a child nor had a strong desire for children at the time of their pregnancy. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are mothers who longed for children and have tried everything in their power to have a child. These moms may have had multiple miscarriages before having their rainbow baby, went through many rounds of fertility treatments, or chose adoption as a means for having children. No matter what your route to motherhood was/is, babies are a blessing.

This week I’ve been looking at one of these mothers who longed for a child of her own. Unlike the women of today, fertility treatment was not an option. You either had your own child or you had to adopt an heir. So who was this mother who longed for a child? The Bible mentions a few women who were unable to conceive for many years, yet the Lord showed up and blessed them with a child of their own. The mom we are looking at today is named Sarah.

Who was Sarah? Sarah’s story can be found in Genesis 11:27-23:2. She is the wife of Abraham (11:29), who happens to also be her half brother (20:12). In Sarah and Abraham’s time, marrying a half sibling was culturally acceptable even though today it is viewed as repulsive. We know that Sarah was extremely beautiful (Gen 12:11, 14). We also can conclude from Scripture that Sarah was about 9 years younger than Abraham by comparing their ages in Genesis 17:1 & 17. We are also told that Sarah is unable to conceive (11:30).

It’s hard to talk about Sarah’s story without talking about her husband as well. According to the Bible when a man and woman become married they become “one flesh.” In other words, the two individuals become connected and their lives become intermingled. What happens to one spouse affects the other. With that being said, God speaks to Abraham (who is called Abram at this time) and tells him to leave his father’s house, his culture/country, and go to a place that God would later show him. In return, God promised to bless him, make him a great nation, give him a great name, and that he would be a blessing to others (Gen 12:1-3). So Sarah (named Sarai at this point) helps gather up all their possessions and they leave with their nephew Lot (Gen 12:5). Abraham was promised the land of Canaan (Gen 12:7) and later in Chapter 15, God comes to Abraham and tells him that he will become a great nation, more specifically, he would have a son.

Sarah concludes at this point, that since she is well past the age of carrying a baby and has not yet conceived a child, the promise must not include her. She tells Abraham that since the Lord has prevented her from having a child that maybe they can build a family through her slave girl (a common practice of the day), Hagar; which he does (Gen 16:2-4). However, the next time God speaks with Abraham, he is told that Sarah will be the mother of the child promised to them not the child Abraham had with Hagar and God makes a covenant with Abraham at this time (Gen 17).

In the next chapter Sarah hears that she will have a son of her own and laughs (Gen 18:9-15). She is recording as saying to herself “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight? (Gen 18:12).” One year later Sarah has a child. The remarkable thing is that Sarah is 91 years old at this time!!!! And her husband is 100 years old! I think Sarah had every right to laugh. My grandmother is 88 years old and I can not imagine her giving birth to a child. in Telling an old woman that she is going to have a baby is ridiculous, not to mention IMPOSSIBLE! But yet the Lord had promised her a child and He delivered on His promise. Numbers 23:19 tells us “God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” That last statement is a rhetorical question; where the obvious answer to the one being asked is “no.”

When reading through Sarah’s story about eventually having a child, you may be quick to assume she didn’t believe she was really going to have a child because of her laughing about it and then her lying about her laughing (this was my thought for so long) but Hebrews 11 includes Sarah in it’s listing of Biblical characters of great faith that pleased God. In my last post I wrote how Rahab, the prostitute, was only one of two women included in this list. Sarah is the other woman who was included! This is what Hebrews 11:11 says about Sarah’s faith: “By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful.”

Sarah may have originally thought that she was going to have a child when God had first come to Abraham at age 75 and promised to make him a great nation but over time grew to believe the promise did not include her. After all, she waited 25 years to see the promise of a child fulfilled. I don’t blame her for getting weary in the waiting and coming to believe she would not be the one to give Abraham a child. She even tried to make Abraham a father by giving her slave as a wife to Abraham, which got them a child but also brought in another woman who may have tried to remove Sarah from her role as Abraham’s wife. Sarah even laughed over being told she was going to be a mother at the age of 91 but Sarah had 25 years of watching how God was fulfilling His promise to Abraham and ultimately to her as God had blessed them with livestock, gold and silver, and added a great many people under their care. Sarah saw how God had protected her honor every time she was taken away from Abraham to be another man’s wife (Gen 12 & 20). She saw how God used her husband to rescue their nephew from being a captive of war (Gen 14). She watched their economic power grow time and time again (Gen 12 & 20). She saw how God had prevented and them allowed women to have children in one situation (Gen 20). She saw many things over those 25 years prior to having a child. Sarah believed that the impossible was possible because God said He would do it for her! He had proven Himself faithful and this had filled her with faith.

Was Sarah a perfect woman? No, she wasn’t. She had her on faults and flaws. She learned that her extreme beauty seemed to get her into trouble and did not ensure her of having children. Her relationship wasn’t perfect with her husband but she loved him so she did follow his requests and he loved her and followed her requests. Both lead to issues later: Sarah being taken as a wife for two other men and Abraham sleeping with a slave girl and then having to later send her and his son away. Not to mention how Sarah blamed him for her trouble with “the other woman,” and it was her idea! Sarah mistreated Hagar, was possibly jealous of her and her son, and made sure that Issac would be the sole heir to Abraham’s possessions. In the end God over looked their faults and at times their moral failures because they put their trust in God and His words to them. Gen 15:6 says “And Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Hebrews 11:39-40 says “All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.” Sarah and Abraham did receive their promised son but not their promised land. Sarah died before they ever owned a single piece of property in Canaan and Abraham died with only owning the small plot of land he purchased to bury his beloved Sarah (Gen 23). However, they still believed that the land God had promised them would belong to their family in the future. Ultimately, Hebrews 11:39-40 is pointing to the promised messiah, Jesus Christ, that would make all who believe that His death and resurrection settles the cost that God demands for the sin in a persons life.

Maybe you are like Sarah who has longed for a child and all the evidence points to the “fact” that you will never have one. Maybe you already have children and there are other things in your life that seem impossible. Has God given you this promise and you still have not seen it fulfilled? Sarah waited 25 years, not to mention all the years she may have tried to have a baby prior to ever receiving this promise. God is still the God who preforms miracles. My younger brother and I are both “faith” babies. My parents tried for 3 years to have children before having me, once it was discovered that my father had an extremely low sperm count and they wanted to preform all kinds of testing on him, he confidently declared if God wanted my parents to have children than we would have them and he was not going to go through any more testing. Three months later they were pregnant. A cousin of mine tried and waited over 10 years to have a child with her husband. Eventually they adopted their eldest daughter after a few rounds of failed fertility treatment and around the time she turned 8 years old they found out they were going to have another daughter! Another girl I know had cancer as a child and was told she would never be able to have children due to the intensive chemotherapy she had, she is now married with a beautiful and healthy little girl. A couple we know and are good friends with had their daughter at 24 weeks gestation due to eclampsia which resulted in the mother having a seizure right when her doctor walked into her hospital room from coming home early from vacation to check on her. Their daughter is now 2 years old and thriving, she has some problems due to being born so early but she can breathe on her own and swallow some liquids without aspirating (getting it in her lungs); they are believing for complete and total healing and that one day soon their daughter will be like any other child. They are also grateful that the mother is still alive.

What’s your “impossible” situation or circumstance? Are you facing deportation due to something you did over 20 years ago, even though you’ve had a clean record since, have a child who is a citizen and are now married? Do you feel trapped in a job because of the economy or in need of a job in a poor economy? Maybe their are strained relationships in your life that seem like reconciliation will never come (I’m facing that one)? Maybe you feel you’ve been given a death sentence due to a physical ailment or disease? Maybe your “impossible” is your marriage. You look at it and think, how can this marriage ever be repaired? How can anything good every come of this relationship again? Will there ever be love and respect again? Can we ever trust each other again? Maybe you’re facing slight odds of getting into the college of your dreams or see no way into the career field that you have worked hard to get into but don’t know the right people who can help you get the experience you need in order to even get into the graduate program you need to in order to accomplish that dream. Maybe your impossible is feeding your children and paying the bills this month. Maybe it’s making it through this school year with distance learning!

My God is the God of the “impossible.” He allowed a 91 year old woman to have a child, a virgin gave birth to a son, many mothers have received their children back from the dead, an iron ax head floated after sinking in a river, a man outran a horse drawn chariot, a boy untrained for war killed a highly trained and champion fighter who happened to be a giant with a sling and a stone. My God can part the sea, send a giant fish to swallow and then spit out a man alive 3 days later. My God can make a small jar of oil fill up many large jars to pay a widow woman’s debt. My God can heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and forgive any and every person who has sinned no matter how “big” their sin seems. He is loving and kind, compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. My God is the god of the impossible. Can you step out in faith today, like Sarah, and believe the One who has promised is indeed faithful to you right where you are? He is faithful despite our short comings. Whatever is your “impossible” today, talk to God about it. Be honest about your feelings on the issue but also remind yourself that God is able, He is faithful, and He is willing.

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20