I am surrounded by women who are incredible examples of strength and faith. They go forward without complaint of their situations, with positive attitudes doing their best in whatever their situation may be. Some of these women are married and some are in terrible marriages, and some are single or divorced, some have health problems, some have financial problems, some are faced with challenges with their children. There are as many different situations as there are women. Each of these women have their own unique problems that seem to be tailor made to try her faith, test her resolve, and sometimes I wonder, perhaps, break her. But they never break. They endure. And they endure faithfully. To me they are the Sarah’s of the Bible, in our time. Let me explain.
We often refer to the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac. God has even said “[His people] must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son. For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified.” (D&C 101:4-5.) There is a part of that story that is not mentioned, which I am sure existed, but wasn’t written. That is the part of Sarah, Isaac’s mother. She had to also know, in my opinion, of the sacrifice that was to take place. She was married to Abraham. They were sealed together and she was his helpmeet. Perhaps this was only Abrahams test, but Gods says, “They must needs be chastened and tried”, not just Abraham. So, I always believe that a prophet of God marries a woman his equal, if not greater than he is. I remember sitting in Sunday school class once and a dear sister said she didn’t believe that Sarah knew about the sacrifice of Isaac because she couldn’t have handled it. Sarah wasn’t without faith in the plan that God had and Sarah was just as committed to God as Abraham. Perhaps she was even the one that said you must do this. I ponder this as a follower of Jesus Christ. For I know that He has a plan for me too when I have a trial that seems overwhelming to me. He does for all of us.
I also ponder the fact that I am surrounded by strong women. Women who sacrifice on a daily basis. Women who sacrifice their time, talents, and everything the Lord has blessed them with for the building up the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Kingdom of God on the earth is people. It is their families! It is each of us. These women, us, we spend all we are in the defense of our children and in the defense of Gods children. We want them to love holy things, to love righteousness. We want them to know that true joy and happiness can only come from following God’s plan. And those women who don’t have children yet, are living examples of righteousness. They are as faithful as Sarah was who was unable to bear children in her early years until God made it so (Gen. 18:9-15.) I love the women in my life, who lift others by serving others cheerfully, even when it is hard, even when their husbands don’t say “thank you”, or when all they do seems to go unnoticed, not because they are seeking approval or wanting thanks, but sometimes it just happens. Funny how Sarah’s sacrifice was left out of the Bible as well. But it is recorded. And so shall the righteousness of all good women. This I testify.
No comments:
Post a Comment