A Woman God Commends

What kind of woman does God commend? Of what woman might God say, “Her. She is a woman after my own heart. I commend that woman as an example of a holy, godly Christian. I am not ashamed to be called her God.”

The Scripture tells us of one such woman, and her name is Sarah. Yes, Sarah the wife of Abraham the Patriarch: Sarah, the barren woman, the quite jealous woman, the doubting woman, the harsh woman, the lying woman, the laughing woman.

God points us to Sarah as an example of a woman with whom He was pleased–a woman who receives commendation in both 1 Peter 3 and Hebrews 11–because of her faith in the God of the promises.

LOOK TO SARAH (Isaiah 51:2)

It’s always confounded me how Sarah made it into the “Hall of Faith.” Hebrews 11:11 says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.” But my confusion regarding God’s commendation of Sarah reveals a misunderstanding about God on my part rather than inconsistency on the part of the Faith-Rewarder, for Scripture is very clear: “For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Romans 3:20). Like her husband, Sarah believed God and it was credited to her as righteousness.

Sarah receives God’s commendation because she “hoped in God” for what was physically impossible and for what her eyes could not see (1 Peter 3:5). God had spoken; he had made a promise to give her husband a son. Sarah heard the promise of God, and she believed what God said. More specifically, Sarah trusted in the God who made the promise; she “considered him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11).

Yes, Sarah made a mess of things. Her attempts to “help” God with the details of his work proved disastrous. She stumbled in her hope and faith at times. But although she did not know HOW God would provide the son, she believed God would do what he said he would do. Sarah persevered in faith for decades, because she “looked beyond the promise to the Promiser” (AW Pink).

Sarah is not in the “Hall of Faith” because she earned her spot there through her own righteousness, but because God commends women who hope in the God of the promises. He faithfully upholds and strengthens women who, in the midst of their own seemingly impossible circumstances, hear the words of God and count the Promiser worthy of their trust. Women adorn the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ when we believe that God will make good on his word, and so we trust and obey him. Sarah’s faith in the specific words of God bore fruit to God’s glory. And for Christian women who hope in God, God also gives us “power to conceive” what is otherwise impossible: freed from sin, we are alive to God and enabled to spiritually bear fruit to God’s glory.

SARAH’S DAUGHTERS (1 Peter 3:6)

God commends Sarah for her faith. And yet, “faith reveals itself in various ways” (Spurgeon). Single or married, healthy or sick, weak or strong, old or young, women who lean upon the God who cannot lie will yield the fruit of faith in their various contexts. Justified by faith, we see in 1 Peter 3:1-6 how Sarah’s hope in God is attested to by fruit that adorns a woman in Sarah’s situation: submission to her husband, a cultivation of inner tranquility, and fearlessness.

But consider with me how we see this fruit of faith in our personal situations. Sarah’s hope was in God and not in her husband. So, married or single, God commends women who lean upon God rather than putting their hope in a husband (or in getting a husband!). God commends women who are preoccupied with inner beauty rather than outer beauty, because they fear God rather than their fellow man–or fellow woman. God commends women who fear the Lord rather their situations, whether it is concern for their health, or their children, or the unknown days ahead.

God commends women who are so confident in his promises that they laugh at the future (Proverbs 31:25).

DAUGHTERS OF PROMISE (Galatians 4:28)

Just like he did for Sarah and Abraham, God has given us promises that we can trust him for. We don’t know how God will make good on his promises to us, but if he has said it, we can count on him to do it. What rest and sure hope is ours! For “faith will cheerfully leave it with omniscience as to how the promise will be made good to us” (AW Pink).

God is still looking for women who trust him, who take him at his word, who rest upon his promise, who find it sweet to know “thus saith the Lord.” And of the thousands of promises in Scripture for the daughters of Sarah, what are a few that I could leave with you?

Thus saith the Lord:

“I will never leave you nor forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” Isaiah 41:10.

“My God will supply every need of yours,” Philippians 4:19.

“For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose,” Romans 8:28.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you,” James 4:8.

“Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord,” Ephesians 6:8.

“Whoever believes in him may have eternal life,” John 3:15.

God is looking for women who lean on him for strong help (2 Chronicles 16:9), who believe God and order our lives around his promises, and who walk in obedience to God’s word because we are confident that God will help us and that we will not be put to shame for trusting Him. God commends women whose hope is in the One who watches over all his words to perform them.