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Mistakes Made By Godly Women Mother's Day is a day we often extol the virtues of women. But I want to do something a little different in this article. We realize that even godly women sometimes make mistakes. Some of the most admired women in the Bible did some things that both men and women need to avoid. Therefore, we want to look at some of those women and learn what not to do from them. Sarah was the wife of Abraham. We could mention he virtues in leaving her homeland and following Abraham into the land of Canaan. She is mentioned in the "Hall of Fame of Faith", Hebrews 11. She is also used as an example of a woman submitting to her husband in1 Peter 3. "For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror" ( 1 Peter 3.5-6). Yet Sarah was a not perfect. Abraham had been promised a child by God. when he was 75 years of age, Genesis 12.4. The years went by and Sarah was still without a child. It was then she grew impatient and suggested that Abraham take her handmaided, Hagar, and have a child, Genesis 16. Keep in mind this was about 10 years after the promise in Genesis 12 and Sarah was also getting older. After the birth of Ishmael, Sarah grew jealous and had Abraham to cast the maid and child out of their camp. Both men and women lose their patience with God. They think they can help Him out and hurry up the process. But God does His work in His time and not ours. We sometimes lose patience with our children. We wonder if they will ever grow up or learn how to make up their beds, clean their rooms, and make their beds. Some women even throw up their hands and just give up. They quit being the homemaker God expects them to be. Jesus said, "By your patience possess your souls." (Luke 21.19). He was not specifically talking about parenting but the principle applies. Rebekah was the wife of Isaac. We read of her starting in Genesis 24. She was going the well to get some water when she came across a servant of Abraham. She gave them some water and offered to draw some water for his camels. Upon learning that this servant was looking for a wife for his master's son, she agreed to go with him. She left her home and relatives to marry a man she had not met. Seeing Isaac from a distinct she covered herself with a veil, Genesis 24.66, which showed her modesty. But she along with her husband had a fault. Each one played favorites with their children. She had twin boys, Esau and Jacob. She was partial to Jacob and Isaac was partial to Esau. Partiality is not a good trait in it builds enmity. I have seen mother's and father's praise one child and scold another for the same action. This never turns out well as one child will learn they can get by with disobedience and the other feels unloved. I am not saying that all of the tension between Esau and Jacob was due to their parents but it did not help the situation. We must understand that our God is one who shows no partiality. "For there is no partiality with God" (Romans 2.11). Peter entering the household of Cornelius says, "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him" (Acts 10.34-35). Often provokes a child to wrath as they feel that their best is not good enough. We must understand the impartial nature of God and apply that to our parenting. Abigail is found in 1 Samuel 25. She is described as being of good understanding and "beautiful appearance" in verse 3. She had married a wealthy but detestable man. David sent ten of his men to Nabal asking for whatever food he could spare. Nabal insulted David's men and sent them away empty handed. Abigail showed a lot of good qualities when she heard what had happened. She immediately recognized the danger her husband and household were in. After all David and his men were an army. They could easily take whatever they wanted and killed the household. She had food prepared and took it out to David's camp. David was about to go back to Nabal's house and kill all the men but Abigail apologized and David relented. So what was Abigail's fault? She married a worthless man. Perhaps this was not her fault as some marriages were arranged by parents. But we are not told this was such a marriage. Perhaps she married him because he was rich or she may have thought she could reform him, or maybe he was not worthless at the beginning. What we can say for sure was that Nabal was Abigail's problem. She had to deal with this man and his actions Returning back to her house she found her husband having a feast and being drunk. She waited until he was sober and then told him what almost happened. Verse 38 says the Lord stuck him and he died. Abigail then married David. . Sometimes godly women find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and they need to have the intelligence and intelligence of Abigail. She immediately recognized the situation and did what needed to be done. I am sure there are many more godly women we could have studied but the point is that even godly people make mistakes and have their weaknesses. The key is to not give up and keep on listening to God. -- Dennis Tucker |