Sarah’s journey begins in Genesis 11:29 where she is mentioned because Abram took her as his wife. In verse 30 it says “But Sarai was barren; she had no child.” Her barrenness is established very early in her marriage.

At the beginning of chapter 12 we see God told Abram to leave his country and He promised to make him a great nation. So Abram took Sarai and Lot (his nephew) to Egypt where he was afraid for his life because she was beautiful. Abram asked Sarai to say she was his sister so the Egyptians would not kill him. We see she was taken into Pharaoh. However, God protected her by sending a plague to Pharaoh and his house because she was Abram’s wife. This did not make Pharaoh happy so he sent them away.

In chapter 15 God establishes His covenant with Abram. Abram has a vision and talks to God about his heir (Eliezer of Damascus – Abrams servant) and being childless. God responds with “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” At which point Abram believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.

In chapter 16 Sarai after having waited approximately ten years, tells Abram to go in to her maid Hagar and sleep with her. I can hear Sarai’s argument now; “God did not include me in His original promise to you – your body – your heir I didn’t even get a mention, and besides it is custom that you can take more wives and sleep with my maidservant/s to have offspring. So go get it over with and let’s get this show on the road.” Finally, Abram gives to Sarai’s nagging and sleeps with Hagar. Keep in mind that Hagar had no say in this plan of Sarai’s for her to give birth to their heir.

After Hagar conceived she no longer respected Sarai and this caused a lot of strife between them, with Hagar eventually running away. Note that Hagar got pregnant quite quickly and this must have been very difficult for Sarai given that God had promised and it had been sometime since the promise was given; and not to mention that she was Abrams wife.

An Angel appears to Hagar and tells her to return to Sarai. The Angel then spoke over Hagar and her child, Ishmael (Genesis 16:11-12). Although God blessed Ishmael (Genesis 17:20) he was never part of the original promise and still to this day we live with the tension and strife between the two nations and their offspring. All this because Abram and Sarah acted outside of Gods will to bring about the promise.

Culturally, we in the Western world do not offer our maidservants (if we have them) to our husbands. However, we do need to be very careful how we influence our husbands during our time of barrenness and especially what we say and speak over ourselves and our situations. At times when it takes longer than we want for our prayers to be answered the testing becomes too much for us and we are often tempted to take things into our own hands. When we do the outcomes interfere with Gods plan and the negative implications may plague us for years.

We also need to be very careful of who and what we put our faith in to fulfill our promise. Our destiny is tied up in who and what we believe and what we confess. Hence the reason God changed Abrams name to state the promise whenever his name was spoken.

At the time Ishmael was born Abram was eighty-six years old. The next time God shows up he is ninety-nine years old. In chapter 17 Abram walked with God and God told him what He would do for him. During this exchange God changes his name from Abram (High Father or Patriarch) to Abraham (Father of a Multitude) and says he will become the father of nations. God also changes Sarai’s name which means Argumentative to Sarah which means Princess.

Then God specifically says in Genesis 17:16 “I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall become the mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” Abraham questions God and responds by laughing and says in his heart “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old bear a child?” Then he reminds God of Ishmael and God says “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac…But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”  This time God specifically includes Sarah’s name in what he tells Abraham.

Now that Sarah was a Princess and she held a place of honor Abraham treated her the way her new position warranted. This is also a reflection of the redemptive work of God.

Interesting to note both Abraham and Sarah laughed. Genesis 17:17 states “Abraham fell on his face and laughed…” Could Abraham’s laugh be a respectful type laugh one has when joy rises up as a confirmation? Or was it a laugh of disbelief?

As we see in the beginning of chapter 18 the Lord and two angels visit Abraham and Sarah. When Abraham recognized God he said “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant?” He was asking God for his promise and notice he used “I” not “we” in reference to the promise. I believe Abraham was taking responsibly for what he and Sarah believed and what they expected God to do at this juncture. He has taken his rightful place as the leader/covering in the marriage and given Sarah her rightful place of honor. The two had finally become one.

Abraham asks permission to serve them and as we pick up the story again in verse 9 we see Sarah’s laugh is very different.    Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” (note that God specifically asks for Sarah) So he said, “Here, in the tent.” ¹⁰ And God said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Although God is still speaking to Abraham this is the first time Sarah hears the promise for herself.¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.^{[a] 12} Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Now it is Sarah who questions God ¹³ And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’

She was looking at her natural condition and her husband’s age not the supernatural ability of God. She was way passed the age of childbearing and having not had a period or ovulated for who knows how long, and keep in mind that it is twenty plus years since the original promise.  No doubt the old argumentative Sarai wanted to raise head and open her mouth and let them know what she thought. God’s rebuke however quietens her old self. ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

We can imagine Sarah thinking, now if only God had shown up when He first made the promise maybe, just maybe it would have been possible. We often forget that God’s timing is perfect and that He has a purpose for barrenness as he does for everything.

The entire promise is greater than simply conceiving the child. And we can determine that Sarah’s role within the promise of birthing a son is significant, as she has to carry the child to term whereas Abraham only has to fertilize the seed. Sarah has a promise within the promise WOW!!!

Another fascinating element is that the name Isaac means May God Smile upon Him or He Laughs. What does our laugh say about us? Is it a rejoicing knowing that He who promised is faithful or is it a, you’ve got to be kidding after all this time?