Profiles in Leadership: Sarah was Impatient & Insecure…and a Control Freak!

Sarah said to Abraham, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please go into my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” Genesis 16:2 God told Sarah’s husband, Abraham, that his offspring would grow as numerous as the sands of the seashore and the stars of the sky. But there was a problem: Sarah was barren and past the age of childbearing. As the years passed, God’s promise didn’t appear any closer to fulfillment. Sarah began to doubt because she looked at her circumstances and not at the Almighty God who keeps His promises. Sarah was facing a problem and felt compelled to solve it in her own way. Lacking the patience to trust God to keep His promise, Sarah looked to her own methods. After waiting more than a decade for a son, she felt she had waited long enough and unwisely attempted to fulfill God’s will her way – through her Egyptian servant named Hagar. After Abraham’s son was born to Hagar, Sarah despised both of them. The true problem facing Sarah was not a need for offspring, but rather her own impatience. Sarah wanted control – something that has afflicted many leaders throughout history. Instead of trusting God, Sarah tried to make the promise come true by using her own methods and according to her own timetable. She depended on her own strength when she should have leaned on God. She illustrates what happens when an impatient and insecure leader tries to work independently of God. Please comment below or email me directly at curtis.songer@gmail.com