Ten Women

of T he B ible
O ne by O ne T hey C hanged the W orld

S T U D Y G U I D E

by Jenna Lucado Bishop

f r o m t h e w r i t i n g s o f

Max
Lucado
Ten Women of the Bible
Copyright © 2016 by Max Lucado

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 CONTENTS

I n t ro d u c t i o n ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� v

L e s s o n   1  SARAH
Life in the Kingdom of the Absurd�������������������������������� 1

L e s s o n   2  RAHAB
When a Checkered Past Meets God’s Grace�������������������� 25

L e s s o n   3  ABIGAIL
Beauty in the Midst of the Beasts��������������������������������� 4 9

L e s s o n   4  ESTHER
Touching the King’s Heart������������������������������������������ 73

L e s s o n   5  MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS

More Than a Christmas Story������������������������������������� 9 9

L e s s o n   6  THE SAMARITAN WOMAN

From Outcast to Evangelist��������������������������������������� 12 3

L e s s o n   7  THE CANAANITE WOMAN

When Great Faith Meets Great Action�������������������������14 5

L e s s o n   8  MARY OF BETHANY
Risky Acts of Love����������������������������������������������������� 171

L e s s o n   9  MARY MAGDALENE
Encountering the God of Suprises����������������������������� 19 7

L e s s o n   10  SAPPHIRA
Do Good . . . Quietly������������������������������������������������� 2 21

L e a d e r ’ s G u i d e ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24 5
 Introduction

T he C ast
The ten women of the Bible we’re going to focus on in this study came from a range of different back-
grounds. Some we know only by clues as to their nationality left in the Scripture. Some we know only
by the place they are believed to have lived. Some were queens and women of power and influence in
their world. Others were relegated to the fringes of society.
Some of their stories are inspiring. In a society in which the contributions of women were often
overlooked, their actions stood out for one reason or another to the writers of Scripture. Others,
marked by scandal and intrigue, provide a cautionary tale for us. Yes, all of their stories are different.
And yet all of them provide lessons for us today . . .
Sarah, the woman whom God promised would give birth to a nation, but who would also at times
try to rush God’s plans.
Rahab, a prostitute in the Canaanite city of Jericho, who would save herself and her family through
her faith in the one true God of the Israelites.
Abigail, a woman whose wisdom and well-placed words quieted the wrath of King David and
prevented the deaths of many people.
Esther, a young queen whom God placed in the Persian court for “such a time as this” to prevent
the genocide of the Jewish people.
Mary, the young virgin pledged to Joseph, whom God would choose to give birth to Jesus, the
promised Messiah who would save the world.
The Samaritan Woman, who would meet this Messiah at a well one day. His words would forever
after change her life.
The Canaanite Woman, who made God smile with her wit and faith, and who received from Jesus
an answer to her prayer.
Mary of Bethany, a friend of Jesus who witnessed the resurrection of her brother, Lazarus, and
then anointed Christ in anticipation of his death and resurrection.
Mary Magdalene, who traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was given a unique front-
row seat to his victory over death.
Sapphira, a woman in the early church who, along with her husband, made the unfortunate (and
deadly) decision to lie to the Holy Spirit.
The lives of these women are very different from our own. And yet, in many ways, we often find
ourselves facing the same issues they faced. The promises of God that don’t seem to come to pass. The
barbaric behavior of others in our world that forces us to play peacemaker. The overwhelming nature
of the tasks the Lord has set before us. The injustice of a world that judges us for our past, finds us
guilty, and says we will always be considered a failure.
Even more, these stories show us there is a God who sees us where we are and loves us for who we
are. He is the one who hovers over all the pages of the Bible, shaping lives, rescuing hearts, healing
sicknesses, raising what was dead to life, and passing out high callings to those who choose to follow
him and have faith in him.
So, if you ever feel like a second-class citizen in this world and wonder how God could possibly use
you to change lives, just look at the stories of these women in the Bible. As you do, you will come to
the conclusion—as the disciple Peter did—that God “does not show favoritism but accepts from every

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 Ten Women o f t h e Bible

nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34–35). And as you study their lives, you
will uncover important truths God wants you to grasp.
Let’s get started!

H ow to U se this S tudy
This study guide is designed to help you delve into God’s Word and learn more about these ten fascinating
women in the Bible. Each session contains the following elements:

Opening Insights: To help you get to know more about these ten women, each session opens
with an insight and a retelling of the character’s story as drawn from Max’s books. Two reflection
questions will then get you thinking about how each person’s story relates to your own.

Daily Bible Study: Each session contains five days of Bible study with insights drawn from Max’s
books and leading questions to help you navigate the stories of these women in Scripture.

Points to Remember: Each day’s session concludes with a summary of the main points in the
study. These serve as reminders to the key points of Max’s teaching and a review at the close of
your study time.

Prayer for the Day: Each day’s session includes a prayer to help you focus your thoughts on God
and move into your quiet time with him.

Weekly Memory Verses: Our lives are changed when we encounter Jesus, and our hearts are
changed by what is kept there. The weekly memory verse will relate to the main theme of the session
and help you hide God’s Word in your heart.

Scripture Quotations: Many Scripture quotes have been provided in the margins to help you
follow the retelling of the story in your Bible.

During the daily Bible study portions, in addition to answering the questions that have been provided,
you will also want to make notes of what comes to mind as you read the selected passage of Scripture. Be
sure to have pen and paper for writing. Commit this time to the Lord and ask him to reveal himself to
you as you work through each of the sessions.

F or L eaders
If you would like to lead a group through the material in this study guide, please see the section at the
end of the guide for a basic design of how to set up your group time, navigate problems and opportunities
that may come up during your discussion time, and get the most out of the study as a group.

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 LESSON 1

S ARAH
L ife in the K ingdom of the A bsurd

T he kingdom of heaven. Its citizens are drunk on wonder. Con-

sider the case of Sarai. She is in her golden years, but God promises
her a son. He says to her husband, Abram, “I will make you into a great
The Lord had said to Abram,
“Go from your country, your
people and your father’s household
to the land I will show you. I will
nation, and I will bless you” (Genesis 12:2). make you into a great nation, and
So Sarai gets excited. She visits the maternity shop and buys a few I will bless you; I will make your
dresses. She plans her shower and remodels her tent . . . but no son. name great” (Genesis 12:1–2).
She eats a few birthday cakes and blows out a lot of candles . . . still
no son. She goes through a decade of wall calendars . . . still no son.
So Sarai decides to take matters into her own hands. (Maybe God
needs me to take care of this one.) She convinces Abram that time is running
out. (Face it, Abe, you ain’t getting any younger, either.) Sarai then commands
her maid, Hagar, to go into Abram’s tent and see if he needs anything.
(And I mean “anything”!)
Hagar goes in a maid. She comes out a mom. And the problems begin. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had
Hagar is haughty. Sarai is jealous. Abram is dizzy from the dilemma. borne him no children. But she
had an Egyptian slave named
And God calls the baby boy a “wild donkey.” It’s an appropriate name for
Hagar . . . (16:1).
one born out of stubbornness and destined to kick his way into history.
This isn’t the cozy family Sarai expected. And it isn’t a topic Abram and
Sarai bring up very often at dinner.
Finally, fourteen years later, when Abram is pushing a century of
years and Sarai ninety . . . when Abram has stopped listening to Sarai’s
advice, and Sarai has stopped giving it . . . when the wallpaper in the
nursery is faded and the baby furniture is several seasons out of date . . . Abraham fell facedown; he laughed
and said to himself, “Will a son be
when the topic of the promised child brings sighs and tears and long
born to a man a hundred years old?
looks into a silent sky . . . God pays them a visit and tells them they had Will Sarah bear a child at the age
better select a name for their new son. Abram and Sarai have the same of ninety?” (17:17).
response: laughter.

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

Be joyful in hope, patient in They laugh partly because it is too good to happen and partly be-
affliction, faithful in prayer cause it might. They laugh because they have given up hope, and hope
(Romans 12:12). born anew is always funny before it is real. They laugh at the lunacy
of it all.

1. Put yourself in Sarai’s shoes. It had been fourteen years since God’s
original promise of a son. Now, she is ninety. Ninety! God must have
forgotten his promise, right? Wrong. God does the unthinkable—a
son. No wonder she laughed! Have you ever let out a “Sarai laugh”
because of God interrupting your familiar life with the unexpected?
Describe what happened.

2. What blurs your kingdom vision? What is it that gets in the way of
your seeing the world with spiritual eyes—with believing God can
do the impossible?

He called a little child to him. . . . As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we are often surprised when
And he said: “Truly I tell you . . . God does the “absurd,” works miracles, and moves in unimaginable
whoever takes the lowly position ways. All too often we grow comfortable in a life that we see, touch, and
of this child is the greatest in the
manage on our smartphones. But Jesus said, “Unless you . . . become like
kingdom of heaven. And whoever
welcomes one such child in my name little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew
welcomes me” (Matthew 18:2–5). 18:3). A child lives in constant wonder and faith in the unimaginable.
Yet Sarah’s childless life would test her childlike faith. As you read her
story, it is possible that you will relate to her journey. And it’s probable
that God will grow your childlike faith along the way.

j Prayer for the Week i

Jesus, nothing is impossible for you. Forgive us for the times we get so
wrapped up in the kingdom of earth that we forget about the kingdom of
heaven. We want to live expecting the unexpected, trusting in a God whose
thoughts are higher than our thoughts and whose ways are higher than
our ways (see Isaiah 55:9). In your mighty name, amen.

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y One: Pro mise Given

Day One: Promise Given

Integrit y for Securit y

When we first meet Sarai, she is living in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, Abram’s wife was Sarai . . .
located in modern-day Iraq. In addition to being told she is Abram’s [she]was childless because she
was not able to conceive. . . .
wife, we also read she is childless because she was not able to conceive and together they set out from
(see Genesis 11:30). When Sarai’s father-in-law, Terah, takes the family Ur of the Chaldeans to go to
on the move, she and Abram end up in the city of Haran. It is there the Canaan (Genesis 11:29–30).
Lord appears to Abram, tells him to go to Canaan, and promises to
make him into a great nation.
The writer of Hebrews tells us, “It was by faith Abraham obeyed By faith he made his home in the
God’s call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his promised land like a stranger in a
foreign country (Hebrews 11:9).
own country, not knowing where he was to go” (11:8 ncv). Yet in spite
of this faithfulness, we wouldn’t exactly expect to see either his or Sarai’s
names listed in “Who’s Who in Purity and Sainthood.”
Why? Well, for Abram’s part, he has a fibbing tongue that won’t stop! “Say you are my sister, so that I
Shortly after the first visit from God, a famine in the land of Canaan will be treated well for your sake”
sends the couple and their family down to Egypt. It is here we read an (Genesis 12:13).
interesting detail about Sarai: she was exceptionally beautiful. So beau-
tiful, in fact, that Abram fears the Egyptians will kill him to get to her.
So, in order to save his neck, he lets the word get out that Sarah isn’t
his wife but his sister . . . which is only half true.
And then, not long after, he does it again! “Abraham moved south Abimelech called Abraham in
to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he and said . . . “You have done
things to me that should never
moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, Abraham introduced be done” (20:9).
his wife, Sarah, by saying, ‘She is my sister.’ So King Abimelech of Gerar
sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace” (20:1–2 nlt).
Twice Abram and Sarai trade integrity for security. Is that what you
call confidence in God’s promises? Can you build a nation on that kind
of faith? As it turns out, God can. God took what was good, forgave what
was bad, and used Abram and Sarai to change history.

1. Read Genesis 12:1–9. Sarai was sixty-five, and Abram seventy-five, He took his wife Sarai . . .
when God asked them to journey approximately 400 miles from and they set out for the land
of Canaan (12:5).
their home to a strange land called Canaan. Not exactly an easy
move to the suburbs. How do they respond to the call? When was
a time God called you into the unfamiliar? How did you respond?

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

By faith even Sarah, who 2. Check out Hebrews 11:8–12. How did Sarai and Abram demonstrate
was past childbearing age, their faith (see verse 8)? What is the spiritual implication of dwelling
was enabled to bear children
because she considered him faithful in tents (see verse 10)? How can we be modern-day “tent dwellers”
who had made the promise in the way we trust and follow God?
(Hebrews 11:11).

Now there was a famine in 3. The story of Sarai and Abram is one of phenomenal faith, but this
the land, and Abram went doesn’t mean they didn’t stumble at times. Read Genesis 12:10–20.
down to Egypt to live there
(Genesis 12:10).
What takes Abram from a place of faith in God’s promise to
forgetting God’s promise? What circumstances cause your own
heart to forget God’s promises?

4. The idea of “God’s promises” is tossed around a lot in Christian

circles, but what does it mean? What are God’s promises? What do
these verses say about the promises of God?

Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son
of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (nkjv).

1 Kings 8:56: “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people
Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed
of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His
servant” (nasb).

2 Corinthians 1:20: “For no matter how many promises God has

made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is
spoken by us to the glory of God.”

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y One: Pro mise Given

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful

for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for
correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right” (ncv).

T o u g h t o S wa ll ow
By the time the Lord again appears to Abram, he and Sarai are finding The word of the Lord came to
God’s promises about as easy to swallow as a chicken bone. “Master,” him: “This man will not be your
heir, but a son who is your own
he says, “what use are your gifts as long as I’m childless . . . ? You’ve flesh and blood will be your heir”
given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it (Genesis 15:4).
all” (Genesis 15:2–3 msg).
God’s response? “No problem.”
Abram must have looked over at Sarai at that point as she shuffled
by in her gown and slippers with the aid of a walker. The chicken bone
stuck for a few minutes but eventually slid down his throat. Just as
he was turning away to invite Sarah to a candlelight dinner, he heard
promise number two.
“Abram.”
“Yes, Lord?”
“All this land will be yours.”
Imagine God telling you that your children will someday own Fifth So the Lord said to him,
“Bring me a heifer, a goat and a
Avenue, and you will understand Abram’s hesitation.
ram, each three years old, along
“On that one, Father, I need a little help.” And a little help was given. with a dove and a young pigeon.”
God told Abram to take three animals, cut them in half, and ar- Abram brought all these to him,
range the halves facing each other. To us, the command is mysterious. cut them in two and arranged
To Abram and Sarai, it wouldn’t have been at all. They’d seen the cere- the halves opposite each other
(verses 9–10).
mony before. Abram had participated in it. He’d sealed many covenants
by walking between the divided carcasses and stating, “May what has
happened to these animals happen also to me if I fail to uphold my
word” (see Jeremiah 34:18).
Abram’s heart must have skipped a beat when he saw the lights in
the darkness passing between the carcasses. The soft golden glow from
the coals in the firepot and the courageous flames from the torch.
What did they mean? The invisible God had drawn near to make his When the sun had set and darkness
immovable promise. “To your descendants I have given this land” had fallen, a smoking firepot with a
blazing torch appeared and passed
(Genesis 15:18 nkjv). between the pieces. On that day
And though God’s people would often forget their God, he didn’t the Lord made a covenant with
forget them. He kept his word. The land became Abram and Sarai’s. Abram (verses 17–18).

5. Take a look at the conversation between God and Abram in Genesis

15. The Hebrew name that Abram calls God in verse 2 is Adonai,
which means “Lord, Master.”1 What does this tell you about how

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

Abram viewed God? How do you view God when the waiting is long
and his promises seem bleak?

He took him outside and said, 6. Abram assumes God’s promise will be fulfilled through Eliezer, the
“Look up at the sky and count the head of his household. But then God instructs Abram to “look
stars—if indeed you can
up at the sky” (verse 5). God not only tells Abram that his lineage
count them” (Genesis 15:5).
will be as numerous as the stars, but also, in this, he draws Abram’s
gaze upward. What do you think gazing at the stars did for Abram’s
perspective? How can you “look up at the sky” in your daily life?

The words “it was credited to him” 7. Reread Genesis 15:6 and compare it to Romans 4:18–25. What is
were written not for him alone, God’s promise to us as Abram and Sarai’s descendants?
but also for us, to whom God will
credit righteousness—for us who
believe in him who raised Jesus our
Lord from the dead. He was
delivered over to death for our sins
and was raised to life for our
justification (Romans 4:23–25).
8. God commanded Abram to cut in half a heifer, ram, and goat—a pretty
graphic mental picture! Yet it was common in Abram’s day for two
parties to walk between animal halves while making a treaty. It was
as if to say, “May I become like these animals if I don’t keep my part
of the deal.”2 But in this vision, who passes between the animals—one
party or two? What does this gesture say about God’s promises?

For the Lord God is a sun and At the beginning of Genesis 15, God says, “Do not be afraid, Abram.
shield; the Lord bestows favor I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (verse 1 nkjv). This is where
and honor; no good thing does he
we start. We start with “I am.” We start with remembering our “shield” and
withhold from those whose walk is
blameless (Psalm 84:11). our “great reward.” Before looking at the promises, we look at the Promise
Maker. If we focus on trusting in his promises before trusting in him, or
receiving his promises more than receiving him, then we have missed it.
Missed what? That the same God who spoke with, met with, and walked
with Abraham wants to speak with, meet with, and walk with us. This is
the ultimate promise—the greatest gift. And as we grow in relationship
with God, we grow in our trust of his promises burgeoning in our lives.

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Two: “Helping ” Go d

j Points to Remember i
YY Our imperfect, doubting faith cannot prevent God from keeping Immediately Jesus reached out his
his promises. hand and caught [Peter]. “You of
little faith,” he said, “why did you
YY God may call us to move outside of our comfort zone, but being doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).
“tent dwellers” will prepare us to be ready when God calls.
YY God never forgets his promises, and our confidence in those promis-
es is rooted in our relationship with him.

j P r ay e r f o r t h e D ay i
Lord, thank you for grafting us into your promise of salvation.
Thank you for the example of Sarai and Abram. Give us the confidence they
had to call you “Adonai,” Master, Lord, no matter the circumstances.
And help us to remember that above all, the ultimate promise is fulfilled
in relationship with you. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Day Two: “Helping” God

R ac k i n g U p C h a rg e s
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone credited your charge card account? All “He himself bore our sins” in his
month long you rrack-rrack up the bills, dreading the day the statement body on the cross, so that we might
die to sins and live for righteousness
comes in the mail. When it comes, you leave it on your desk for a few
(1 Peter 2:24).
days, not wanting to see how much you owe. Finally, you force your-
self to open the envelope. With one eye closed and the other open, you
peek at the number. What you read causes the other eye to pop open.
“A zero balance!”
There must be a mistake, so you call the bank that issued the card.
“Yes,” the manager explains, “your account is paid in full. A Mr.
Max Lucado sent us a check to cover your debt.”
You can’t believe your ears. “How do you know his check is good?”
“Oh, there is no doubt. Mr. Lucado has been paying off people’s
debts for years.”
By the way, I’d love to do that for you, but don’t get your hopes
up. I have a few bills of my own. But Jesus would love to, and he can!
What then shall we say that
He has no personal debt at all. And, what’s more, he has been doing it
Abraham, our forefather according
for years. For proof, Paul reaches into the two-thousand-year-old file to the flesh, discovered in this
marked “Abram of Ur” and pulls out a statement. matter? (Romans 4:1).

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

If, in fact, Abraham was justified Abram and Sarai certainly had their share of charges on this state-
by works, he had something to ment. They were far from perfect. As we have seen, there were times when
boast about—but not before God Abram trusted the Egyptians before he trusted God. He even lied, telling
(Romans 4:2).
Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister. But Sarai had her failings as well. One
of the most memorable occurred just after God made his covenant with
Abram—when Sarai decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Sarai said to Abram, ‘See now, the Lord has restrained me from
bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain chil-
dren by her.’ And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai” (Genesis 16:2–3
nkjv). The result? Disaster.

1. Read Genesis 16 and write down the “charges” Abram and Sarai
rack up. Why do you think Sarai decides to “help” God’s plan in
this passage? Based on Abram’s response, what desires did he have
to “help” God’s plan as well?

2. Think about a time when you took control of a situation instead of

entrusting it to God. What were some of the results of that decision?
Sarai believed taking over would fix the problem (see Genesis 16:2),
and this gave her a false comfort. What false “comforts” tag along
with control?

Then Sarai said to Abram, 3. It had been ten years since Abram and Sarai had picked up and
“You are responsible for the wrong left all they knew to follow this promise of God. Sarai’s hope and
I am suffering. I put my slave in
patience were wearing thin, and she was beginning to cast blame.
your arms, and now that she knows
she is pregnant, she despises me. Who do you see her blame in Genesis 16? Who do you tend to blame
May the Lord judge between when your dreams or plans don’t unfold as you had hoped?
you and me” (verse 5).

You will keep in perfect peace those 4. Read Proverbs 3:5–7 and James 1:6–8. Which passage best describes
whose minds are steadfast, because Sarai in Genesis 16, and why? In Isaiah 26:3, how does the prophet
they trust in you (Isaiah 26:3). encourage us to avoid doubt and control and have a heart of peace
and trust?

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Two: “Helping ” Go d

I n N e e d o f a L i t t l e G r ac e
“So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took
her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He
slept with Hagar, and she conceived” (Genesis 16:3–4). Abram and Sarai
now have an heir, but it isn’t the heir God intended. They have gone
outside of God’s plan, and soon things begin to unravel.
Hagar starts to despise Sarai. Sarai starts to despise Hagar. Abram When she knew she was pregnant,
is caught in the middle. The situation gets so bad that Abram finally she began to despise her mistress
gives up trying to work it out. “Indeed your maid is in your hand,” he (Genesis 16:5).
says to his wife. “Do to her as you please” (verse 6 nkjv).
In many ways, strange as it may seem, Sarai’s humanness is refresh-
ing. Should you ever need a reminder of God’s tolerance, you’d find it
in her story. If you ever wonder how in the world God could use you
to change the world, just look at this couple. They made a lot of bad
decisions. But Abram also made one for his family that changed every-
thing: “He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on Abram believed the Lord,
his own” (Romans 4:3 msg). Because of this, God offered grace to both and he credited it to him as
Sarai and Abram in spite of their faults and missteps. He credited their righteousness (15:6).
charge account and covered their debts.
My father had a simple rule about charge cards: own as few as possi-
ble and pay them off as soon as possible. So you can imagine my surprise
when he put one in my hand the day I left for college. I looked at the
name on the plastic. It wasn’t mine; it was his. His only instructions to
me were, “Be careful how you use it.”
I went several months without needing that card. But when I needed
it, I really needed it. On an impulse, I skipped class one Friday morning
and headed out to visit a girl in another city, six hours away. Everything
went fine until I rear-ended a car on the return trip. I can still envision
the phone where I stood in the autumn chill to call my father. My story
wasn’t much to boast about. I’d made a trip without his knowledge,
without any money, and wrecked his car.
“Well,” he said after a long pause, “these things happen. That’s why
I gave you the card. I hope you learned a lesson.” Did I learn a lesson?
I certainly did. I learned that my father’s forgiveness predated my mis-
take. He had given me the card before my wreck in the event that I would
have one. He had provided for my blunder before I blundered.
Need I tell you that God has done the same? God knew that Abram We all stumble in many ways
and Sarai would falter. He knew they would someday need grace. And (James 3:2).
he knew that someday we, too, would need his grace.

5. What are the negative results of Sarai’s decision to step outside of

God’s plan, both relationally and emotionally?

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

6. How does Abram react to Sarai’s decision? How do you think he

should have responded? How can you help a friend or relative who
is trying to take control or manipulate God’s plans?

7. How did God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:6 provide for his
“blunder before his blunder”?

8. God gives us forgiveness, knowing we will step outside of his desired

plan, just as Sarai and Abram did. But he also gives us grace to grow
in our faith along the way. Based on the following verses, how does
our faith and trust in God grow?

Matthew 26:41: “Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation.
The spirit wants to do what is right, but the body is weak” (ncv).

Mark 9:23–24: “Jesus said . . . ‘All things are possible for one who
believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said,
‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” (esv).

Romans 10:17: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God” (nkjv).

Philippians 4:6–7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by

prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Two: “Helping ” Go d

comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ

Jesus” (nasb).

Philippians 4:12–13: “I know how to live when I am poor, and I

know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of
being happy at any time in everything that happens . . . when I have
more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things
through Christ, because he gives me strength” (ncv).

This story gives us a glimpse of what happens when we seek to go We all, like sheep, have gone
our own way instead of God’s way. Sarai is left contempt and bitter. astray, each of us has turned to our
Abram is weary and consenting. Hagar is abused. Ishmael is left to die. own way; and the Lord has laid on
him the iniquity of us all
We all have “Sarai moments”—times when we want life to go our way (Isaiah 53:6).
instead of God’s way. We all have moments when we ask God to scoot
over so we can sit in the driver’s seat. This should make us love God
even more—for we know that during such times he protected us from
our own selves. He knew all the mistakes we would make—the “charges
to the credit card”—yet he still chose us before the foundation of the
world. No matter how much we foul up, God’s plan of salvation is never
thwarted, and his grace is never threatened.

j Points to Remember i
YY “Fixing” a situation by using our own means to move God’s plan for-
ward may give us a sense of comfort and control, but the results lead
to disaster.
YY God’s forgiveness predates our mistakes, and his grace when we fail
gives us the faith to grow in contentment with his plans.
YY God often has to protect us from ourselves!

j P r ay e r f o r t h e D ay i
Lord, we need help trusting you with all of our heart (see Proverbs 3:5–7).
It’s so easy to lean on our own understanding, and we don’t want to be wise
in our own eyes. Humble us and give us a heart that fears you. Thank you
for your grace and love that predates all of our mistakes. Amen.

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

Day Three: Staying Hopeful

D r e a d f u lly R o u t i n e
When Abram was ninety-nine By the time God makes his next appearance in Genesis 17, twenty-five
years old, the Lord appeared to years have passed since he first promised to make Abram and Sarai into a
him (Genesis 17:1). great nation. Abram is now ninety-nine, and Sarai is not much younger.
She knits, and he plays solitaire. He has lost his hair. She has lost her
teeth. And neither spends a lot of time anymore lusting for the other.
Twenty-five years. A lot has happened during that time. The couple
has overcome scandal in Egypt. Their nephew Lot has been captured and
rescued. Then there was that whole Hagar-and-Ishmael ordeal. But still,
no son has been born, no promised heir.
For Abram, whose name meant “exalted father,” the conversations
must have become dreadfully routine.
“Say, what is your name?”
“Abram.”
“Oh, ‘exalted father’! Wow, what a great title. Tell me, how many sons
do you have?”
Abram would sigh. “None.”
Occasionally, I’m sure he’d think of God’s promise and give Sarai
a wink. She’d give him a smile and think, Well, God did promise us a child,
didn’t he? And they’d both chuckle at the thought of bouncing a boy on
their bony knees.
“As for me, this is my covenant God was chuckling too. With the smile still on his face, he began
with you: You will be the father of getting busy doing what he does best—the unbelievable. But first he had
many nations” (verse 4). to change a few things, beginning with their names. “I am changing your
name from Abram to Abraham,” he said, “because I am making you a
father of many nations. . . . I will change the name of Sarai, your wife,
to Sarah. I will bless her and give her a son, and you will be the father”
(Genesis 17:5, 15–16 ncv).
Abram, the father of one, would now be Abraham, the “father of a
multitude.” Sarai, the barren one, would now be Sarah, the “mother of na-
tions.” It was another assurance from God that the promise would be ful-
filled. Somehow, the couple chose to believe it and never give in to doubt.

1. Spend some time reading Genesis 17. This is the fourth time, during
a twenty-five-year span, that the Lord visits Abram, and he opens
this visit with the command, “Walk before me faithfully and be
blameless” (verse 1). What does this mean?

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Th ree: Staying Ho peful

2. If you were in Sarai’s place, how would you have reacted to this On that very day Abraham took
command to walk before God after twenty-five-years of waiting? his son Ishmael and all those born
in his household or bought with his
How does Abram react? What can we learn from his obedience (see
money, every male in his household,
verses 23–27)? and circumcised them, as God told
him. . . . And every male in
Abraham’s household, including
those born in his household or
bought from a foreigner, was
circumcised with him
(Genesis 17:23, 27).

3. In Isaiah 40:31 the prophet writes, “Those who wait on the Lord
shall renew their strength” (nkjv). What is the promise of waiting/
hoping in the Lord? What lessons have you learned during your
seasons of waiting?

4. According to 2 Peter 3:8–9, “With God, one day is as good as a thou-

sand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise
as some measure lateness” (msg). What does this verse say about
God’s timeline versus our own? How should we view God’s timing?

T h e U n wa n t e d a n d O b nox i o u s G u e s t
Ah, doubt. He’s a nosy neighbor. He’s an unwanted visitor. He’s an When you ask, you must believe
obnoxious guest. Just when you are all prepared for a weekend of re- and not doubt, because the one
who doubts is like a wave of the
laxation . . . just when you pull off your work clothes and climb into sea, blown and tossed by the wind
your Bermuda shorts . . . just when you unfold the lawn chair and sit (James 1:6).
down with a magazine and a glass of iced tea . . . his voice interrupts
your thoughts.
“Hey, Rebecca. Got a few minutes? I’ve got a few questions. I don’t
mean to be obnoxious, Bec, but how can you believe that a big God
could ever give a hoot about you? Don’t you think you are being pre-
sumptuous in thinking God wants you in heaven?
“You may assume you are on pretty good terms with the man up-
stairs, but haven’t you forgotten that trip in Atlanta? You think he
won’t call your cards on that one?
“How do you know God gives a flip about you, anyway?”

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

Got a neighbor like this? He’ll pester you. He’ll irritate you. He’ll
criticize your judgment. He’ll kick the stool out from under you and
refuse to help you up. He’ll tell you not to believe in the invisible yet
offer no answer for the inadequacy of the visible.
He’s a mealymouthed, two-faced liar who deals from the bottom
of the deck. His aim is not to convince you but to confuse you. He
doesn’t offer solutions; he only raises questions. Don’t let him fool you.
Though he may speak the current jargon, he is no newcomer. His first
seeds of doubt were sown in the Garden of Eden in the heart of Eve.
He undoubtedly worked hard to sow those same seeds in the hearts of
Sarah and Abraham.
But Sarah and Abraham never gave up trusting God. Although
their get-up-and-go had got up and gone, and all they had was a Social
Security check and a promise from heaven, they decided to trust that
promise rather than focus on the problems. As a result, the Medicare
couple were the first to bring a crib into the nursing home.

5. We have an enemy who loves to steal away our hope. When we

listen to his voice, we call ourselves names like forgotten, unlovable,
You, dear children, are from God
(1 John 4:4). unimportant. More than likely, Abraham and Sarah felt this way
during their twenty-five years of waiting. But then they listened to
He predestined us for adoption God’s names for them—Abraham meaning “father of many,” and
to sonship (Ephesians 1:5). Sarah meaning “princess.” Read 1 John 4:4, Ephesians 1:4–5, and
We are heirs—heirs of God and Romans 8:17. What does God call you? How does this breathe new
co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). hope into you?

Yet he did not waver through 6. God’s plan is so outlandish that Abraham asks, “How could I become
unbelief regarding the promise of a father at the age of 100 . . . and how can Sarah have a baby when
God, but was strengthened in his she is ninety years old?” (Genesis 17:17 nlt). Yet in spite of how
faith and gave glory to God, being
fully persuaded that God had power
crazy the plan sounds, he and Sarah never give up trusting God.
to do what he had promised Read Romans 4:18–21. What do these verses say about their faith?
(Romans 8:20–21).

7. Abraham is clearly in disbelief that Sarah will give birth to a son

at such an old age. So he asks God to bless Ishmael, thinking that
he must be the rightful heir after all. How does God respond (see

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Th ree: Staying Ho peful

Genesis 17:19–20)? What does this say about God’s generosity and Then God said, “Yes, but your
grace even when we misunderstand or doubt his plan? wife Sarah will bear you a son,
and you will call him Isaac”
(Genesis 17:19).

8. What doubts are you hearing these days? Write them down, and He is patient with you, not wanting
then beside them write out these promises: 2 Peter 3:8–9, Deuter- anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9).
onomy 7:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:3.
The Lord your God is God;
he is the faithful God
(Deuteronomy 7:9).

The Lord is faithful, and he

will strengthen you
(2 Thessalonians 3:3).

In Hebrews 11:13, the author writes that the greatest biblical heroes
“died in faith, not having received the promises” (nkjv). Sometimes
we won’t see God’s promises unfold during our lifetime. Other times,
it may take only a matter of minutes. Regardless, in seasons of doubt
we must remember that God doesn’t need an alarm clock. He hasn’t
dozed off or forgotten his plan for our lives. He is faithful, and his
timing is perfect. May we, like Abraham and Sarah and all the heroes
of faith, trust in God regardless of promises seen or unseen.

j Points to Remember i
YY God’s timeline is not our own, and we cannot measure his faithful-
ness by our clock or calendar.
YY It is the enemy’s goal to confuse us, raise questions in our minds
about God’s plans, and lead us into doubt.
YY Our trust needs to be in God and God alone, or we will lose sight of
him and sink into hopelessness when we grow impatient waiting on
his plan.

j P r ay e r f o r t h e D ay i
Thank you, Lord, that your timing is perfect. You are never late to fulfill
your promises. Help us to focus on you, on your faithfulness, and to keep
our eyes fixed on your love and grace. May we grow in faith as we wait
expectantly for what you are going to do in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

Day Four: Promise Fulfilled

Unexpected Visitors
With God all things are possible Sarah’s name isn’t the only thing God changes in her life. He soon
(Matthew 19:26). changes her mind. He changes her faith. He changes the number of her
tax deductions. He changes the way she defines the word impossible. But
most of all, he changes her attitude about what it means to trust in him.
It begins one day when three visitors arrive at her tent.
Abraham looked up and saw Abraham sees them first. He runs to greet them and then goes to
three men standing nearby find Sarah. “Quick,” he says, “get some flour and bake some bread.”
(Genesis 18:2). Sarah does so, but as she kneads the dough in the tent, she does some
eavesdropping as well. “I will surely return to you about this time next
year,” she hears one visitor say, “and Sarah your wife shall have a son”
(Genesis 18:10 esv).
Sarah laughed to herself as When Sarah hears the news, a cackle escapes before she can contain
she thought, “After I am worn out it. Her shoulders shake, and she buries her wrinkled face in her bony
and my lord is old, will I now have
hands. She knows she shouldn’t laugh. It’s not kosher to laugh at what
this pleasure?” (verse 12).
God says, for this visitor indeed is the Lord speaking to her. But just
as she catches her breath and wipes away the tears, she thinks about it
again—and a fresh wave of hilarity doubles her over.

1. Spend some time in Genesis 18:1–15. Why do you think Sarah

laughed? What emotions were behind her laughter (doubt, joy,
shock)? Use the context and history you know to support your
thoughts.

2. Why do you think the Lord asks Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh?”
in verse 13? Usually when God asks a question, he is communicating
a lesson. What lesson is he teaching Sarah?

So she lied and said, 3. Why does Sarah lie about laughing? How do you see her attitude
“I did not laugh” (verse 15). toward God change from verse 12 to verse 15? Why does it change?

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Four: P romise Fulfilled

4. God changes the way Sarah defines the word impossible and changes Lord God . . . there is
her attitude about what it means to trust in him. When was a time nothing too hard for You
(Jeremiah 32:17 nkjv).
God did this to you? How did he change the way you trusted him?
How has he opened your eyes to the impossible?

T h e L o r d P rov i d e s
Later on, after the visitors have left, Abraham looks over at Sarah—
toothless and snoring in her rocker, head back and mouth wide open,
as fruitful as a pitted prune and just as wrinkled. And he cracks up.
He tries to contain it, but he can’t. He has always been a sucker for a
good joke.
But one year later, it’s God who has the last laugh. “The Lord visited
Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And
Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of
which God had spoken to him” (Genesis 21:1–2 esv).
Sarah and Abraham’s name for God was Jehovah-jireh, which means To this day it is said, “On the
“the Lord who provides.” It’s a bit ironic, perhaps, that they would call mountain of the Lord it will be
God provider, given the fact the couple had been well provided for al- provided” (Genesis 22:14).
ready before their trek to Canaan. They had lived in a split-level tent
with a four-camel garage. Life was good in Ur.
“But life will be better in Canaan,” Abraham had told Sarah and the
rest of the family. So off they had gone. When she had asked, “Where
will we live?” Abraham had answered, “God will provide.” And God did.
When they later got caught in an Egyptian scandal, the family won-
dered, “How will we get out?” Abraham assured them, “God will pro-
vide.” And he did.
When they split up the land and nephew Lot took the grassland
and left Uncle Abraham with the rocks, the family wondered, “How
will we survive?” Abraham knew the answer: “God will provide.” And
he did.
And when Abraham and Sarah stood next to the empty crib, and she
wondered how she’d be the mother of nations, he’d put his arm around
her, whispering, “The Lord will provide.” And God did.
Were Sarah to hear Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:3 about being Blessed are the poor in spirit,
poor in spirit, she could give a testimony. “He’s right,” she would say. for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven (Matthew 5:3).
“I do things my way, I get a headache. I let God take over, I get a son.
You try to figure that out. All I know is I am the first lady in town to
pay her pediatrician with a Social Security check.”
Abraham and Sarah had truly learned that God provides. But what
God would ask them to do next must surely have tested their trust in
him once again.

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

God has brought me laughter, 5. Read Genesis 21:3–7. The name Isaac means “he laughs.” How would
and everyone who hears you describe Sarah’s laughter in this chapter (see verse 6) as compared
about this will laugh with me to her laughter in Genesis 18?
(Genesis 21:6).

6. Sarah learned a lesson on how to be “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).

What does being poor in spirit mean? Why does it bring blessing?
In what ways are you poor in spirit?

7. “The poor in spirit are those who recognize they need God’s help.”3
How does seeing our need for God affect the way we live out our
daily lives as compared to not seeing our need for God?

My God will meet all your 8. Jehova-jireh means “the Lord will provide.” God provided for Abra-
needs according to the riches of ham and Sarah every step of the way. All they had to do was trust in
his glory in Christ Jesus him. In the space below, write down a time in your past when God
(Philippians 4:19).
provided an answer to a worry or need. Now write down a worry
of today, and next to it write down God’s name, Jehova-jireh. Take a
minute to remind yourself that God was faithful in your past and
will be faithful in your present.

God had once asked Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
(Genesis 18:14 nkjv). In the question we find the answer—absolutely
not. Approximately 2,000 years later, we find the same truth proclaimed
about another promised child yet to be born. “For with God nothing
Everything is possible for one who will be impossible,” the angel said to Mary as he announced the birth
believes (Mark 9:23). of the Savior (Luke 1:37 nkjv). Are you gripped by worry? Plagued with
doubt? If so, just remember that if God could do the “impossible” by
giving a ninety-one-year-old woman a child and a teenage virgin a child,
he can do the impossible in your life. And just as Sarah joyously laughed
the day she held that impossible miracle in her weathered arms, may
you joyously laugh today as you hold on to the incredible promise that
nothing is impossible with God. Nothing.

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Five: A Test of Faith

j Points to Remember i
YY When God provides the impossible, our understanding of his char- She added, “Who would have
acter and our trust in his faithfulness grow. said to Abraham that Sarah would
nurse children? Yet I have borne
YY Remembering how God has provided for us in the past will help us him a son in his old age”
to trust him to be faithful in the present. (Genesis 21:7).
YY God can do the impossible in our lives.

j P r ay e r f o r t h e D ay i
We praise you, Lord, for your faithfulness in the past—for those promises
you have fulfilled and those impossible needs that you have already met.
Your love and care are beyond measure! Thank you that our needs for
today are safely in your hands. Amen.

Day Five: A Test of Faith

T h e M o s t D iffi c u lt C o m m a n d
It’s hard to say which is more amazing: that Sarah became pregnant Some time later God tested
at ninety, or that she and Abraham at that age were still trying to con- Abraham. He said to him,
ceive. Of all the gifts God gave them, Isaac was the greatest. But of all “Abraham!” “Here I am,”
he replied (22:1).
the commands God would give them, this one would be the hardest:
“Take your dear son Isaac whom you love and go to the land of Mo-
riah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains
that I’ll point out to you” (Genesis 22:2 msg).
The Bible doesn’t tell us what was running through Abraham’s Early the next morning
mind when he heard this command. It doesn’t tell us Sarah’s reac- Abraham got up and loaded his
donkey. He took with him two
tion as she said goodbye to her son. All we know is that Abraham
of his servants and his son Isaac
saddled the donkey, took Isaac and two servants, and traveled to (verse 3).
the place of sacrifice. When he saw the mountain in the distance, he
instructed the servants to stay and wait. And he made a statement
that is worthy of special note: “Stay here with the donkey. My son
and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to
you” (verse 5 ncv).
Look at Abraham’s confident “we will come back.” As the writer of
Hebrews would later note, “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God
was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did
receive his son back from the dead” (Hebrews 11:19 nlt).

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

God cannot be tempted by evil, 1. Turn to Genesis 22. In verse 1, we read that “God tested Abraham”
nor does he tempt anyone (nkjv, emphasis added). What does it mean to “test” one’s faith?
(James 1:13). Note that God never tempts our faith, only tests it (see James 1:13).
What is the difference between testing and tempting?

These have come so that the 2. Read 1 Peter 1:7. Describe a time when you think the Lord was
proven genuineness of your faith . . . testing your faith. How was your faith “refined by fire” during
may result in praise, glory and that test?
honor when Jesus Christ is revealed
(1 Peter 1:7).

3. In Sarah and Abraham’s story, just when the waiting and trials are
over—just when life is feeling good again with their promised son,
Isaac—God sends the hardest test yet. Why did God test Abraham’s
faith? Hadn’t Abraham proved faithful enough?

By faith Abraham, when God tested 4. Read Hebrews 11:17–19. How does the author say Abraham reacted
him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice toward God during this trial of faith? What can we learn from his
(Hebrews 11:17). example?

G i v i n g E v e ry t h i n g B ac k t o G o d
Up the mountain the father and son go. “Where is the lamb we will burn
as a sacrifice?” Isaac asks at one point (Genesis 22:7 ncv). One wonders
how the answer made it past the lump in Abraham’s throat. “God will
give us the lamb for the sacrifice, my son” (verse 8 ncv). Jehovah-jireh,
the Lord will provide.
He went over and took the ram Abraham ties up his son. He places him on the altar. He raises the
and sacrificed it as a burnt offering knife . . . and then an angel stays his hand. God has interrupted the
instead of his son (Genesis 22:13). sacrifice and spared Isaac’s life. Abraham hears a rustling in the thicket
and sees a ram caught by his horns in a bush. He offers it as a sacrifice
and gives the mountain a name: Jehovah-jireh, the Lord provides.

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v Da y Five: A Test of Faith

In the New Testament, we find Jesus reaching out to parents of Jairus, a synagogue leader, came
stricken children. The Canaanite mother. The father of an epileptic boy. and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with
him to come to his house because his
Jairus. They held one end of their rope in one hand and reached to-
only daughter . . . was dying
ward Christ with the other. In each case, Jesus responded. His consistent (Luke 8:41–42).
kindness issues a welcome announcement: God heeds the concern in a
parent’s heart.
After all, our kids were his kids first. “Don’t you see that children
are God’s best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?” (Psalm
127:3 msg). Before our children were ours, they were his. Even as they
are ours, they are still his. We tend to forget this and regard our chil-
dren as “our” children, as though we have the final say in their health
and welfare. We don’t. All people are God’s people, including the small
people who sit at our tables.
Wise are they who regularly give what they have received from God Now I know that you fear God,
back to him. This is exactly what we see in Sarah and Abraham’s lives. because you have not withheld from
me your son (Genesis 22:12).
They were willing to withhold nothing from God and entrust him with
the very life of the one they had waited so many years to receive. Their
example shows us that God rewards us when we do the same.

5. Think of a gift that God has given to you that you cherish deeply.
If God asked you to return this gift to him tomorrow, how would
you respond?

6. In Matthew 6:21 Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart Do not store up for yourselves
will be also.” If we aren’t careful, we can allow our gifts to outweigh treasures on earth . . . but store up
for yourselves treasures in heaven
the Gift-giver. Do you have any earthly gifts that you treasure too
(Matthew 6:19–20).
much? If so, how can you reach a place where you view God as the
ultimate treasure and not the gifts he gives to you?

7. A thousand years after Abraham, the temple in Jerusalem would be

built on Mount Moriah. Although the Bible doesn’t specify, many
scholars believe the temple and the place where Abraham offered
the sacrifice of Isaac were the same location. If that is the case, what
would be the significance of the shared location (see Genesis 22:14)?

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 Ten Women of the Bible v Max Lucado

Do not forget to do good and 8. Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac was an act of worship—an offering
to share with others, for with to God of his absolute best, and his giving back to God what
such sacrifices God is pleased
was rightfully the Lord’s in the first place. How can we likewise
(Hebrews 13:16).
sacrifice our most prized possessions to God in a physical and
spiritual sense?

God responded to Abraham’s faithfulness with these words:

“Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your
only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as nu-
merous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your
descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and
through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because
you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:16–18).
Abraham was now very old, In the end, the Lord blessed Sarah and Abraham for their trust
and the Lord had blessed him in in him. Yes, Satan had used an empty crib to stir up tension and
every way (Genesis 23:1–2). dissension and doubt in their household. Sarah could have easily
served as the enemy’s prima facie evidence as to why a person could
never trust God. But instead, as we have seen, she modeled just the
opposite. Her story has ever since instructed millions that God saves
the best for last.
Other examples stand out in the pages of the Bible. When Daniel
and Jerusalem’s best young men were led into captivity, it appeared to
be a victory for Satan. Hell’s strategy was to isolate the godly young
men. But again the plan boomeranged. Daniel was soon asked to serve
in the king’s court. The very man Satan sought to silence spent most of
his life praying to the God of Israel and advising the kings of Babylon.
Peter is another example. Satan sought to discredit Jesus by pro-
voking Peter to deny him. But the plan backfired. Rather than be an
example of how far a fellow can fall, Peter became an example of how
far God’s grace extends.
Or consider Paul. Satan hoped the prison would silence his pul-
pit. It did, but it also unleashed his pen. The letters to the Galatians,
You intended to harm me, but God
intended it for good to accomplish Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians were all written from a jail cell.
what is now being done, the saving Can’t you just see Satan kicking the dirt and snarling his lips every
of many lives (50:20). time a person reads those epistles? He helped write them!
Every time Satan scores a basket, the other team gets the points.
Sarah’s story tells us that God always keeps his promises. It shows
us that God gives grace to those in need of it. It reveals that God stays
with us and works in our lives even when we try to move against his
will. And it shows us that he will care for us when we entrust to him
the gifts that he has given to us.

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 Lesson 1 v SARAH v For Fur ther Reading

j Points to Remember i
YY Times of testing refine our faith, making it genuine, and allow us to
give God glory, honor, and praise.
YY Our willingness to give God what we value the most is an act of wor-
ship that God will bless.
YY We know our hearts are right toward God when he is more valuable
to us than any treasure he gives us.

j P r ay e r f o r t h e D ay i
Everything we have is yours, Lord. We love and care for your treasures,
but we recognize that they pale in comparison to you. Help us to worship
you by having hearts that are willing to give you our all each and
every day of our lives. Amen.

j W e e k ly M e m o ry V e r s e i
Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the
faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes
his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.
DEUTERONOMY 7:9 (nlt)

For Further Reading

Selections throughout this lesson were taken from No Wonder They Call
Him Savior (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1986); The Applause of Heaven
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1990); In the Grip of Grace (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 1996); Great House of God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997);
Six Hours One Friday (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004); and Fearless
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Notes
1. Earl Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), p. 30.
2. Ibid., p. 32
3. The ESV Global Study Bible (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2012), note on Matthew 5:3.

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