Woman Thou Art Loosed! 20th Anniversary Expanded Edition (22 page)

P
eople, even believers, have often prejudged God.

Anyone can recognize Him in the sunshine, but in the storm His disciples thought He was a ghost (Mt. 14:26). There are two things every Naomi can rely upon as she gathers wood for winter days and wraps quilts around weak, willowy legs: (a) God is a restorer. That is to say, as you sit by the fire sipping coffee, rehearsing your own thoughts, playing old reruns from the scenes in your life—some things He will explain and others He will heal. Restoration doesn’t mean all the lost people who left you will return. Neither Naomi’s husband nor her sons were resurrected. It is just that God gives purpose back to the years that had question marks. How many times have you been able to look back and say, “If I hadn’t gone through that, I wouldn’t have known or received this”? Simply said, “He’ll make it up to you.” He restores the effects of the years of turmoil. People who heard Naomi running through the house with rollers in her hair complaining that God had dealt bitterly should have waited with their noses pressed against the window pane as God masterfully brought peace into her arms. If you wait by the window, you will hear the soft hum of an old woman nodding with her grandchild clutched in her arms. Perhaps she is too proud to tell you that she charged God foolishly, but the smile on her leathery face and the calmness of her rest says, “
He hath done all things well
” (Mk. 7:37).

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and My people shall never be ashamed.
Joel 2:25-26

The Lord will be known as: (b) the nourisher. This may be a difficult role for you who have clutched babies and men alike to the warm breast of your sensitivity. You, who have been the source for others to be strengthened, may find it difficult to know what to do with this role reversal. The nourisher must learn to be nourished. Many women pray more earnestly as intercessors for others than for themselves. That is wonderful, but there ought to be a time that you desire certain things for yourself. Our God is El Shaddai, “the breasted one” (from Gen. 17:1). He gives strength to the feeble and warmth to the cold. There is great comfort in His arms. Like children, even adults can snuggle into His everlasting arms and hear the heartbeat of a loving God who says, “
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God…
” (Joel 2:26).

T
he nourisher must learn to be nourished.

Expect God in all His varied forms. He is a master of disguise, a guiding star in the night, a lily left growing in the valley, or an answered prayer sent on the breath of an angel. Angels are the butlers of Heaven; they open doors. He sends angels to minister to His own. Have you ever seen an angel? They aren’t always dressed in white with dramatically arched wings. Sometimes they are so ordinary that they can be overlooked. Ruth was an angel that Naomi almost sent away. God can use anyone as a channel of nourishment. Regardless of the channel, He is still the source.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV)

When Hagar was lost in the wilderness of depression and wrestling exasperation, God sent an angel. When the labor-ridden mother of Samson was mundane and barren, God sent an angel. When young Mary was wandering listlessly through life, God sent an angel. When the grief-stricken Mary Magdalene came stumbling down to the tomb, God sent an angel. For every woman in crisis, there is an angel! For every lonely night and forgotten mother, there is an angel. For every lost young girl wandering the concrete jungle of an inner city, there is an angel. My sister, set your coffee down, take the blanket off your legs, and stand up on your feet! Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard? For every woman facing winter,
there is an angel!

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 1:14 (NIV)

Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
Hebrews 11:11

I think it would be remiss of me not to share, before moving on, the miracles of winter. In the summer, all was well with Sarah. At that time she knew little about Jehovah, her husband’s God. She basically knew she was in love with a wonderful man. She was the luckiest woman in Ur. An incredibly beautiful woman already, she wore her love like a striking woman wears a flattering dress. The air smelled like honeysuckle and the wind called her name. Then her husband spoke to her about moving. Where, she didn’t know, and crazy as it may sound to those who have forgotten the excitement of summer, she really didn’t care. She ran into the tent and began to pack. Sometimes it’s good to get away from relatives and friends. Starting over would be fun!

Soon the giddy exuberance of summer started to ebb as she began wrestling with the harsh realities of following a dreamer. Abraham had not done what he said; he carried a few of their relatives with them. “I am sure he had a good reason,” she thought. What was really troubling her wasn’t the strife between the relatives or the fighting herdsmen, it was the absence of a child. By now she was sure she was barren. She felt like she had cheated Abraham out of an important part of life. Someone had said she would have a baby. Sarah laughed, “If I am going to get a miracle, God had better hurry.” I want to warn you against setting your own watch. God’s time is not your time. He may not come when you want Him to, but He is right on time. Twice it is mentioned that Sarah laughed. The first time she laughed at God; in the winter time she laughed with God. The first time she laughed at the impossibility of God’s promise. After she had gone through life’s experiences, she learned that God is faithful to perform His word.

G
od’s time is not your time.

Listen carefully to what I am about to say. It is relevant to you. I am not so much concerned with the eighteenth chapter of Genesis where she laughs in unbelief. Nor am I focusing my attention on the twenty-first chapter where she laughs with “the joy of the Lord.” I want to discuss with you the events that led to the miracles of her winter. Often we share our personal testimony. We tell where we started and even where we ultimately arrived, without sharing the process or the sequence of events that led to our deliverance. Then our listeners feel defeated because they named it and claimed it and still didn’t attain it! We didn’t tell them about the awful trying of our faith that preceded our coming forth as pure gold. Today, however, we will share the whole truth and nothing but the truth! Amen.

In between these powerful moments in the life of one of God’s finest examples of wives, everything in her was tested. I believe that her love for Abraham gave her the courage to leave home, but her love for God brought forth the promised seed. Careful now, I am not saying that her love for God replaced her love for her husband; I am merely saying that it complemented the other to the highest level. After all, what good is it to appreciate what God gave us if we do not appreciate the God who gave it to us? If age should do nothing else, it should help us put things in proper perspective. There is nothing like time to show us that we have misplaced priorities.

In summer, she followed Abraham out of their country and away from their kindred. As the seasons of life changed, she takes another pilgrimage into what could have been a great tragedy. Abraham, her beloved husband, leads his wife into Gerar. As I am a man and a leader myself, I dare not be too hard on him. Anyone can make a poor decision. The decision to go to Gerar I could defend, even though Gerar means “halting place.” I have made decisions that brought me to a halting place in my life. What’s reprehensible is that Abraham, Sarah’s protector and covering, when afraid for his own safety, lied about her identity (Gen. 20). You never know who people are until you witness them under pressure. Now, I am not being sanctimonious about Abraham’s flagrant disregard for truth. But it was a life-threatening lie.

Y
ou never know who people are until you witness them under pressure.

Have you ever known someone upon whom you had cast the weight of your confidence, only to have your trust defrauded in a moment when that person acted in self-gratification and indulgence? Someone who has a selfish need can jeopardize all that you have. Abraham’s infamous lie jeopardized the safety of his wife. King Abimelech was a heathen king. He was used to getting whatever he wanted. His reputation for debauchery preceded him to the degree that Abraham, the father of faith, feared for his life. Rather than risk himself, he told the king that his lovely wife was really his sister. Abraham knew that such a statement would cause Sarah to have to fulfill the torrid desires of a heathen. Sarah now finds herself being bathed and perfumed to be offered up as an offering of lust for the passions of the king. Imagine the icy grip of fear clutching the first lady of faith. Imagine her shock to realize that under real stress, a person can never be sure what another individual will do to secure his own well-being. Her Abraham failed her. But God did not! Maybe there is someone in your life who selfishly threw you into a tempestuous situation. Take courage! Just because satan has set a snare doesn’t mean you can’t escape. The God we serve is able. His word to you is, “Woman, thou art loosed.”

J
ust because satan has set a snare doesn’t mean you can’t escape.

Abraham’s faith had always been the star of the Old Testament, but not that day. It’s amazing how faith will come up in your heart at a crisis. Consider Sarah. She is facing the anxious footsteps of her rapist. She knows it will not be long until she will be abused. Like a frightened rabbit crouched in a corner, she realizes Abraham will not rescue her. I don’t know what she prayed, but I know she cried out to the only One she had left! Maybe she said, “God of Abraham, I need you to be my God too. Save me from this pending fate.” Or maybe she just cried, “O God! Have mercy on me!” Whatever she said, God heard her. He will hear you as well. You don’t have time to be angry or bitter. You’ve just got enough time to pray. Call out to Him. He is your God too!

God shut up all the wombs in the king’s household. He spoke up for Sarah when no one else would. He threatened the king and revealed the truth. “She is Abraham’s wife,” declared God! He stopped the footsteps of danger! Very few men understand a woman’s terror of being raped or sexually assaulted. I can only imagine the tears that ran down her face when she heard the door open. Her would-be rapist comes in, falls to the floor and begins to cry out, “He touched me!” Did you know that the heart of the king is in God’s hand and He turneth it as He will? (Prov. 21:1)

When Sarah came out of Gerar, she knew something about life, about people, and most of all, about God. She didn’t lose her relationship with Abraham, as we will soon see. But she did learn something that all of us must learn too. She learned the faithfulness of God. I am convinced that the things that worry us would not, if we knew the faithfulness of God. Have you ever spent the night in a Gerar situation? If you have, you know the Lord in a way you could never know Him otherwise. He cares for you! Look over your past and remember His faithfulness. Look at your future and trust Him now!

T
he things that worry us would not, if we knew the faithfulness of God.

Right after this nightmare experience, the Bible says in Genesis 21:1-2, “
And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
” It wasn’t Abraham’s visit to the tent that left that woman filled with the promise of God. Without God he could do nothing. Always remember that man may be the instrument, but God is the life source. It was God who visited Sarah. Now Sarah knew God like she had never known Him. Some things you can learn about God only in the winter. Sarah won a spot in the hallmark of faith. When Hebrews chapter 11 lists the patriarchs and their awesome faith, this winter woman’s name is included. Abraham is mentioned for the kind of faith that would leave home and look for a city whose builder and maker is God (v. 10). But when it comes to discussing the kind of faith that caused an old woman’s barren womb to conceive, it was Sarah’s faith that did it (v. 11). She didn’t take faith classes. She just went through her winter clutching the warm hand of a loving God who would not fail. So when you hear Sarah laughing the last time, she is laughing with God. She is holding her baby to her now wrinkled breast. She understands the miracles that come only to winter women.