Welcome to Women Of The Bible speak. Im Shannon Bream. Loyalty to god does not ensure a life of happiness. In fact, loyalty can often lead to bigger challenges. Television icon Kathie Lee Gifford exemplifies the hardships and blessings that come from a life of steadfast faith, loyalty to god means putting him first. Every morning i wake up before i have any other thought. I pray. Thank you, lord, for your faithfulness to watch over me during the night, and i thank him for a new day. If i have a pulse, i have a purpose to be loyal to him. The book of first samuel begins with a narrative that will weave throughout the Old Testament. The story of david. But in order to have david, we have to have samuel, the prophet who anointed david to his great calling. And to have samuel, we have to have hannah. So hannah stands right at the center of this unfolding story. Scripture doesnt give us that much information about hannah. Interestingly enough, we dont know much of her background. She is an ordinary woman from one of the tribes of israel. Hannah was not from a powerful family, nor was she the wife of a powerful man. She was married to elcano, a common man from an obscure village. What does leap out at us in scripture is her relationship with her husband, which is extraordinarily tender. He is very concerned about her. Its almost a quasi romantic interlude. We dont have many of those in scripture. He had another wife. Thats really hard for us to understand in modern times how difficult and vexing that must have been for her. But heres the thing. Her husband loved her dearly. Alcina might have been married to two women, but hannah had his heart. Hannah ached for a child of her own, but a struggle with infertility left her barren. A physical and emotional hardship that consumed her. People dont understand the stigma of being infertile in Jewish Culture and in jewish history. It was a sign of gods favor. If a woman for four children and the more children she bore the jews felt like that she was most loved of god. And for her, it was especially tough because she wanted that. It was such a desire of her heart. And it wasnt just that. It was at the other wife did have plenty of children and mocked and gave hannah such a hard time. Eventually, hannahs pain reached a Breaking Point and she poured out her sorrow to god. She goes to the temple at shiloh and implores god to give her this favor. Its such a remarkable thing that the priest who was there at the time, eli, even remarks on it and assumes that there must be something wrong with hannah. He thought maybe she was sort of crazy or drunken, and she said, oh, no, please understand. Im just sharing my deepest needs before god. And he told her to go and be blessed. She didnt even tell him what it was about. Soon after hannahs plea, her faithfulness was rewarded and she became pregnant with a son, samuel. So she weeps bitter tears before the lord. And the irony of it is that hannah means favor or grace in hebrew, and god showed her both. She prayed that if the lord bless her with the son, she would give him right back for service in the kingdom. Samuel did become the prophet who then recognized king david through we have the lineage of christ through him. So, hannah, a very quiet, common woman who was actually going through a lot of persecution, but continued to come to god with her fervent, humble prayer. God had blessed her with having a son. She had other children as well. But samuel played such a big role in coming from such a quiet, faithful, fervent woman who didnt give up in her prayers. I can relate to hannah in the sense that there are things that ive cried bitter tears over. I promise to serve you faithfully, lord. But may i have this . The bible says god wants to give us the desires of our hearts. It is not a sin to pray for the desires of your heart. And i have wept many a bitter tear over Different Things in my life, some of them public. But because i have lived a very public life for the last 50 some years, and many of them private, which nobody knows of except my god. I love hannahs faithfulness. Can you imagine the joy she felt feeling a child move in her womb . And i just love gods stories of faithfulness to her. And then her faithfulness to god. Hannah wasnt married to a man who was famous or wealthy. They were a faithful family. We know that about them. But they were a common family. Miriam, on the other hand, was the sister of moses, the leader of the israelites, and she was a prophetess. She would have been very prominent. So in that way she would have been very different than hannah. In the book of exodus. We meet miriam. Her story is set against the backdrop of ongoing oppression of the jewish people. The jews had multiplied to the extent that the king of egypt pharaoh, begin to fear them. So he prepared a plan to get rid of them. If you like, this is one of those stories in the bible that you can see it. You can feel it as its unfolding. The hebrews were in a terrible situation where pharaoh was worried that the Hebrew Population was becoming too strong against the egyptians and flourishing. And so hed actually said that every hebrew baby has to be thrown in the nile river, all the boys. Not everyone obeyed his order to murder all hebrew male newborns. Moses, his parents, hid their special baby boy when they were unable to hide him any longer. His parents concocted a plan. What they decided to do is make a little baby ark almost for him. Put him in there and have his sister miriam, take him down to the nile river and put him in. Which i think is such an interesting picture that the nile is where these babies were supposed to be thrown to die. And yet its where moses got life. I love the story of miriam. We meet her at a very young age and she is concerned already about her. Her brother, who is floating along the nile. And she follows it involves it. And as shes waiting, pharaohs daughter discovers this little crying baby and says, oh, my goodness, look at this baby. She decides to take him in. And little miriam, whos been watching and in the bull rushes and watching at the nile banks, is brave enough to step up and say, hey, i see that youre taking this baby. Would you like me to have one of the hebrew women nurse him . The princess says, yes, that would be wonderful. Miriam, of course, runs to her mother and says, would you like to see your child again . So miriam is the one who makes it happen and who makes sure that moses continues then to have ties to his family, continues to be part of the community of israel. It was because of these early years with his birth family that moses knew who he really was and came to identify with the hebrew people more so than the egyptians. As time elapsed, gods greater plan for moses as the leader of the israelites revealed itself. Moses initially did not want any part of this. When god came to him and said, youre going to speak and save my people. Moses was like, no, no, send somebody else. I dont i dont want to do this. This isnt me. Im not equipped. And god says, no, im sending you. Three people were responsible for the exile to leave egypt and free the slaves. And it was moses. It was. It was aaron, his brother. And it was miriam. And yet miriam and aaron, the siblings of moses, at some point Start Grumbling and saying, you know, why does he get all the attention . Why is he favored . While miriam had been diligent with her loyalty to god and we got the best of her and god burned with anger. God finds out about it because hes going to find out about everything. He summoned the three of them and im thinking, oh boy, thats a way worse than getting called into the Principals Office of gods like, hey, i need to talk to the three of you. For her to challenge her brother is, in a sense, to challenge god, and she is punished with a skin disease. The word in the scripture is of a kind of leprosy. We dont really know exactly what it was, but it was something that made her an outcast, that made her be placed outside the community until she could be healed. But moses prayed for her, and so did her brother aaron, who was the high priest, and and god healed her. At no point in the quarrel, punishment and reconciliation did god treat miriam as anything other than a prophet who had made a mistake, despite the fact that her sin played out so publicly, her leadership of the people was not questioned. Miriam was still respected by both god and her people. The scripture tells us that miriam died many years later, a great leader of her people, and everyone stopped to mourn because the death of miriam would have been so devastating to the community. Both hanna and miriam displayed loyalty to god by trusting, praying and relying on his promises, a task that was not always easy. Hanna and miriam honored god with their lives and devoted their lives to service to their creator. And i think all of us have that choice every day. Is that what we want to do too . Do we want just one more trophy on a shelf . Do we want just more money in our bank account . I dont know what people want more of. I just know i want more. Thank you for joining me. As we unwrapped the powerful stories of hanna and miriam. Coming up next, deborah and yael show us how to be armed and ready for the battles we may be facing in our own lives. Stay tuned. Let the weight of the day. Fall away, give your cares and worries over to god. Blessed are the poor in spirit for the patient. For lent this year instead of chocolate, give up worry and anxiety with a 30 day free trial. Of how you. Mom. Can we get a puppy, mom . Please . Girls, pets are a big expense. Aww. [ Audience Cheers ] maybe try switching your Car Insurance to progressive. You could save hundreds. [ Audience Laughter ] thanks, tv dad. Well think about it, okay . Look what i found. A puppy a puppy oh, no, no. I wish tv dad was always in charge. [ dog barks, Audience Laughter ] listen to your tv dad. Drivers who switch and save with Progressive Save nearly 700 on average. Whatever battles you are facing, the bible teaches us to be armed and ready. The stories of deborah and yael exemplify bold, brave female leaders who embody the obedience and action god seeks from us. Throughout the bible, we see women in several different roles like mothers, caregivers and peacemakers in biblical times, it was less common to see women as war leaders, judges or fighters. But god works in Mysterious Ways and showed us through two Old Testament women how to be modern warriors. I feel that ive been a woman in the fight in my home, in my marriage, with my child, with my career, in my social media arena and in politics. I was very open about the fact that i was christian and i kind of got judged for that. We faced battles all the time. Its all about trusting in god and trusting in ourselves and taking a deep breath and realizing how much strength we have and how we can power through it. I think about women that are up on the front lines in the military defending our freedoms and doctors and nurses and teachers fighting for children and even politics. We are always faced with all kinds of battles every day and god helps us get through them. In the book of judges, israel once again turned away from god. So god allowed the king of canaan and his Army Commander cicero, to oppress the israelites. After years of abuse, israel cried out to god for help. God answered their plea through a judge, a woman named deborah. I really love the story of deborah, and i identify with her because of my legal background and working as a lawyer. I love that she was such a wise, esteemed individual that she was this female leader of israel, which was super unusual. Deborah is extraordinary because she is the only evidence we have of a female judge. And we see her portrayed in the scripture as a model of wisdom and discernment and good judgment. We see her dispensing legal decisions for the tribes of israel sitting in judgment at her palm tree. We really get the sense that israel is a bunch of tiny tribes who more or less come together when theres an outside threat. Theres a sense of unity going on in the period of deborah that we dont see with some of the other judges, which is unusual, both because unity rarely happens and also because its under the leadership of deborah. We rarely see a woman as political and military leader in the scriptures or when we do. Often its negative. Deborah showed no hesitation when god commanded her to go into battle against this army that badly outmanned, outgunned the israelites in every way. They didnt have any of the chariots. They didnt have any of the weapons. They had nothing. And these people had been oppressing them for a long time. So instead of just looking at the facts on their face when god told her to go do it, deborah is like, okay. Following gods direction, israel assembled an army to take on the canaanites, powerful Army Commander cicero, a task that from an outsiders perspective, seemed ludicrous. Whats going on politically at this moment is that the tribes of israel are being crushed by several rival kingdoms. Among them being the king of hazar and his chief generals, cicero. And they are sort of being ground under this hammer of oppression. Deborah decides to fight back, and deborah is the one who goes and finds the military commander whos going to lead the armies of israel in the field. God had called deborah to take them into battle, and shed gone to their military commander, barak, to say, hey, gods told us to go do this. He said, i dont want to do it unless you go with me. Deborah answered and said, okay, were going to do this. But because of your hesitance, god is going to deliver cicero, the leader of the opposing army, into the hands of a woman. Shes going to get the credit for doing this. If god wants to use you in a situation, you should submit and say yes and trust in him. Finally, the moment arrived and deborah led her people to Battle Alongside barak and the israeli army. Together, the impossible was achieved and ciceros army was defeated. Her Military Strategy is right on the nose, and barak follows her orders and they successfully defeat cicero. Though ciceros army was completely wiped out, he was able to escape. That is where were introduced to our other woman in the fights. J. L. We see that cicero is the leader of this army that has been just decimated by israel, gets out of his chariot and just starts running. And he happens upon this place that he thinks will be hospitable to him. This group of nomadic people where we find yael j. L is standing there at the door of her tent and says, my lord, come rest here. I will keep you safe. She feeds him milk and lets him have a nice nap. It is in jails actions that we see deborahs prophecy about cicero being delivered into the hands of a woman come to fruition. While hes napping, she takes the tent pig and drives it through his skull and she literally drives home the defeat of cicero and the victory of deborah. And why did she do this . We dont really know. We dont know what her motivations could have been. Yael had a very Important Role in stepping up and being brave. Had she been caught in the process of trying to kill this leader, she most certainly her life woul victorious, deborah celebrated with a Hymn Praising and giving credit to god. Its such a beautiful celebration. At the end of this victory that nobody would have thought the israelites would be able to accomplish. And repeatedly through the song, as shes leading the people, she sang bless the lord would have been easy, very easy for her to say, look at what ive done. Im so amazing and ive led you and weve won this outstanding battle. And she doesnt do that. Its a remembrance for us to sing and to praise and to worship and to be able to turn the glory back to god for the great things that he accomplishes even in our lives. Now, the lessons that we can learn from these women is to listen to god and let him guide you and trust in him, and youre going to be okay. You can be a great talker and you can say the most perfect things, but if you dont listen, youre not going to really get anywhere. You really got to be a good listener in order to be a good communicator. Coming up next, the stories of sisters leah and rachel teach us how to overcome challenges and to walk with jesus in our lives. Bath fitter is a better way to remodel your tub. Precise measuring means the perfect fit. The Bath Fitter Tub over tub process means no mess or stress. A custommade tub and seamless wall mean a watertight fit. Premium acrylic means it lasts a lifetime. And all this together means a great value. Bath fitter. It just fits. Visit bathfitter. Com to book your free consultation. Sisters can be the most faithful friend in times of trouble and happiness, but the story of sisters leah and rachel teaches us how to overcome challenges and walk with god in our everyday lives. Rivalry, jealousy and inadequacy are emotions that can consume us and have the power to darken our everyday lives. The Sister Rivalry between rachel and leah brings to light how faith in god can guide us through our struggles. Duck dynasty star Missy Robertson says its easy to relate to the struggles both rachel and leah faced. Theres a lot of emotion in this story, but it all comes back to not understanding your worth as the lord and creator, as he instilled it in each and every one of us. I think in my life ive related to these women. Ive felt inadequate. Ive felt like i wasnt good enough the more i grew in my faith. I realized, yes, i am good enough. In the book of genesis, A Man Named Jacob fled his home after a quarrel with his brother over their inheritance. He ran to his uncle laban, a few towns away, where he met lavins two daughters, rachel and leah. The bible talks about how leah, the older sister, had weak eyes. Rachel is described as having a beautiful figure and form. Shes the younger sister, and yet she seems to be the one that was favored, at least from outward appearances. He is completely smitten and it appears to be a match made in heaven. Jacob quickly fell in love with rachel and asked his uncle for her hand in marriage. Jacob said, ill work for you for seven years jacob served seven years to get rachel, and i love this next line, but they seem like only a few days to him because of his love for her. After the seven years of labor were completed, jacob became impatient. He says, give me my wife, my time is completed and i want to lie with her. Laban complied, and the wedding celebrations began. Unfortunately for rachel and jacob, it was not going to be the fairytale ending they hoped for. Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter lia, and gave her to jacob. Jacob, of course, very excited to marry the love of his life, rachel. And there is this dramatic reveal that, in fact, he has married leah. Rachel has to feel devastated that her older sister is now married to this man. Leah, you have to wonder how she felt knowing that she was being snuck in. She wasnt his chosen love, and yet she was sent in to him and he feels very deceived. So he goes in anger of the girls father and says, what have you done . Laban, unapologetic, proposed a new deal to jacob. The deal is now you can marry rachel, but you can have to work another seven years for her. Jacob accepted these terms in order to marry the real rachel. I think at that point, everybodys in a really bad place because. Leah. No, shes not the first choice. Rachel knows that shes going to be added on as a secondary wife at this point, and jacob feels like hes been double crossed by his father in law after deception and heartache. Rachel and jacob finally tied the knots, but that did not solve everything. Once jacob and leah began having children, rachels relationship with jacob became more strained than ever being childless and sharing her husband with her sister was torture. Rachel, having to struggle through watching her sister have children, i think is very illustrative because we see rivalry, we see jealousy, we see double crossing. Though rachel could not conceive, she wasnt the only one who struggled. We see that the two women vie for jacobs attentions and affection. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son and she says, surely my husband will love me now. They conceived again and said, because the lord heard that i am not loved. He gave me this one too. She thought, all i need to do is have a baby. Rachel watched as her sister had children, and even though rachel had jacobs love for her, it was not enough. Rachel goes to jacob and says, jacob, give me children or ill die. Children identified women as being valuable. I think that its tough to have an Infertility Struggle anyway, but then to be seeing the woman that you share your husband with your own sister, very fertile, having child after child after child that had to just throw enormous salt in the wound for rachel. Rachel said to leah, please give me some of your son to manage. Right. But leah said to her, wasnt it enough that you took away my husband . Will you take away my sons mandrax to the Mandrake Plant was thought to increase fertility, but it wasnt until years after rachel got her hands on it that her prayers were answered. And she was blessed with a son named joseph. Eventually, she is blessed with children and shes overcome with gratitude, and its been a long struggle for her. God remembered rachel. He saw her pain and in her prayers over a child. And he answered those for her. Genesis tells us as soon as rachel had joseph, a new obstacle arose. Laban their father starts accusing jacob of stealing from him. And i can feel like his life is in danger. So he goes to rachel and leah and asks them if i leave, will you come with me . They realized their father never really loved them the way that he should have, and they were done. We see that at the end of the day, these women can put aside their rivalries and think about the larger picture, think about their loyalty to each other and to jacob. After rachel and leah left their homeland. Yet another family twist. Rachel tragically dies in childbirth with benjamin, which is one of the reasons that benjamin becomes so very special to his father, because he is the last reminder of his beloved rachel and of his grief over rachel. It seemed to be a bitter end to a long struggle, but both rachel and leahs children would go on to leave lasting legacies of their own and become central figures in the lords plans. I think that our pain, whether its this pain of infertility or pain of rejection that leah felt, it can drive us to god. I learned to pour myself into the world and communicate more with my father because i want to build my skills up, my faith skills up because i need to have them through this difficult time. I think that its always possible were going to have rivalries and tensions in our families, whether its our sisters or brothers or anyone else. Were often going to have to go to god and Seek Solutions to those problems. And i think we see that through these sisters. Coming up, we dive into the Story Of Ruth and how she handled being an outsider. You guys ready . Theyre ready for it. This spring, its your last chance to explore Everything Fox Nation has to offer for just one night. I dont want dive into original series, Movies And Documentaries you wont see anywhere else. What a privilege it is for you to have me here this evening. I want to see what they saw. I want to see what changed. Were fixing to get filthy, stinkin rich. Poor. Dont do it. And just in time for easter. R 199 per month. Sale lets you experience stories that will renew your faith. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom Of God the greatest story ever told right here . All the other stuff if you have christ is over for you. One side where and a short last chance to get fox nation for 199 a month. When you sign up for a yearly plan, dont wait and sign up. Today. The allnew Chevy Colorado is made for more. Bring more. Do more. See more. And be more. The allnew Chevy Colorado. Made for more. My name is joshua florence, and one thing i learned being a firefighter is plan ahead. You dont know what youre getting into, but at the end of the day, you know you have a team behind you that can help you. Not having to worry about the future makes it possible to make the present as best as it can be for everybody. dr. Aaron king if you have diabetes, getting on dexcom is the single most important thing you can do, and its covered by medicare. Before using the dexcom g7, i was really frustrated. My a1c was stuck. female announcer dexcom g7 sends your Glucose Numbers to your phone or receiver without painful finger sticks so you can make better decisions in the moment. So easy to use, and my a1c has never been lower. female announcer dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm. Call now to get started. Many of us have felt alone and on the outside looking in. When we read the bible, we can find comfort in the Story Of Ruth and her struggle of being an outsider, a feeling that evangelist alveda king is also familiar with. Ive always been one who lives on the edge. I have enjoyed during my lifetimes being the first to do something. Unfortunately for me, i was the first person in the king family to get a divorce and that was a little bit different. And it was a painful experience. And ive been divorced and raised children as a divorced mother and that type of thing. And divorce was not popular when i was young in the africanamerican community. Of course, there were divorces, but it just wasnt done, especially in a pastors. Throughout history, we see that its not always the people that we believe should get the attention. Its sometimes outsiders. Youve never heard of them. You wouldnt think of them. And the women, outsiders who were not the most popular, not the most successful. And yet their names are recorded in the bible. And theyve been there for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. Its very important to learn how to step outside of the status quo, to follow a passion or an idea or thought or a prayer and make the world better. In the book of ruth, were introduced to a woman named naomi. Naomi and her family left their homeland in judah because of a famine. After they arrived in the country of moab, her husband died and she was left with her two sons. This is where the Story Of Ruth begins. Ruth is the first woman who gets her own Feature Story in the bible. And remarkably, its a Feature Story that is not about a woman of israel. Its about a know about woman. So, ruth marries into a family that actually left judea because of a famine, difficult circumstances. So she marries into the family when theyre away from their homeland. But years later, tragedy hit the family. Ruth and her sister in law, auba, became widows along with their mother in law, naomi. The three of them are now left unprotected without a man in that situation to watch over them in that particular time and place, it was necessary. So naomi, her mother in law, says, im going to go home, back to my people, the people of israel. And both of her daughter in law say, we want to go with you. The three set off on their journey to judah. But as they traveled, naomi urged the young women to go back to their homeland as she continued forward. While all but turned around. Ruth chose to stay and watch over her mother in law. Ruth, as a young widow, left absolutely everything had and everything she knew to travel with her mother in law, to a new country, to a new faith and a new religion. Its important to know that at the time, israel and moab were deadly enemies. These were not friendly nations. And for ruth to be from moab marks her as the ultimate outsider. Shes also an outsider in that she has no husband, she has no male family. So in that sense, she is really cut loose from any kind of community at all. Although ruth was well aware of the sacrifices she was making, she and naomi arrived in bethlehem just as the Barley Harvest began. Ruth struggle is a very basic one. She needs to find a way for herself and her mother in law to survive. These are women without an income and without any real way to support themselves. And what ruth does, of course, is go to the fields and pick up the scraps that the harvesters had left, because often it would be enough that they could then grind the wheat and create flour and at least have enough to live in her struggles. Ruth began to be noticed. She is noticed by the wealthy landowner boaz, who in fact owned the field that she was struggling on and asked some questions about her and then discovered who she was. Boaz, a relative of naomi, took favor on ruth when she humbly presented herself to him. But there was an even closer relative who could have married her before boaz that man declined. And boaz and ruth were married. So he was watching over her. And they turned into a love story where he ends up redeeming her and bringing her in, and she becomes part of the lineage of christ, too. So her story is so important. I think its a beautiful one that shows us about compassion and dedication and god working through the worst circumstances. They were blessed with a son. Oh, abed, i love the Story Of Ruth because theres so much sacrifice here. Theres so much grief in the beginning and theres so many beautiful things that come at the end of this story. I think all of us at some moment feel like outsiders, and i know theres kind of a theory among many christians that we should feel a bit like outsiders because this world is not our home. If you believe that, then you feel like, all right, im always going to be a little bit of an outsider, whether its with the culture or politics or the world in general. Im not supposed to be so comfortable here that i feel like this is really my home. Have you ever been so frustrated or desperate that you turned away from god and took matters into your own hands . Well, coming up here about women who did just that, for back pain, ive always been a take two and call in the morning guy. But my new doctor recommended salonpas. 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Its what they live to do. Trinet serves small and medium sized businesses. So they can do more of what matters. Benefits. Payroll. Compliance. Trinet. People matter. We can all fall victim to moments of weakness, especially in our relationship with god. We lose patience. We think we know what is best, and we doubt the lords plan. These common struggles resonate with many of us today, including Country Music star sara evans. I tend to get really frustrated with the lord like, where are you . What are you doing . Why me . At the same time, literally just forgetting about all the blessings that i have and that ive been given. And i always am asking the lord to forgive me for being impatient or not trusting him, or not believing that everything is going to be okay and work out. And it always is. And even if its not the way you thought. In the book of genesis, god spoke to a righteous man named abraham. God said to him, go from your country, your people and your fathers household to the land. I will show you along with the promises of the new land. God later also promised that abrahams wife, sarah, would be a mother of many nations. Sarah and abraham had the belief that they would have descendants that would number beyond the stars or the grains of sand. And yet sarah was walking through life barren, struggling with infertility. And thats when we get into the story of hagar. Sarah and hagar really do come across as Polar Opposites in scripture. Sarah is from a noble family, definitely a kings woman of abraham. And hagar, of course, is not. She is enslaved. We dont really know anything about her origin. Tradition tells us that she is egyptian, and of course, their stories intertwine quite tragically. As years passed, sarahs patience grew thin, and she questioned gods promise that she would have children of her own. In a moment of weakness, sarah hatched a plan in the hope of providing abraham with a child. Sarah turns to hagar in her moment of weakness and sees if she can somehow make gods promise be fulfilled through hagar. Sarah of course, believing that god has failed her, so she needs to be the one to into the breach here and really take control of gods plan and in a sense, fix it. Her fix, of course, is to ask abraham to sleep with her maidservant. Hagar and then she will adopt the child in pretty standard near eastern custom. And then the child will be raised as theirs. Of course, thats not what god has in mind. Thats sarahs plan. Abraham went along with sarahs plan. But after hagar became pregnant, sarah and hagars relationship began to change. Hagar became resentful, and sarahs jealousy took over, like, hours to somebody who is going to be there to serve sarah and not really have any say in what happens in her own life. Not a woman of choices like those of us who live in the western world today feeling out of options. Hagar ran to the wilderness, hoping to find a solution. Scared and alone. Hagar was met by the Angel Of The Lord the first time that hagar tries to run away. God says to her, no, go back. I cant imagine how hard that must have been for her to hear those words, feeling that she would only be mistreated and not really have a life of quality. If they went back, they knew there would be struggle. But hagar talks about that she felt seen by god, the god of the universe. Hagar returned to sarah and had a son, ishmael. Years later, abraham was again visited by god, who proclaimed sarah would concede. The promise would finally be fulfilled. When god comes to tell abraham that he will have this son. Sarah is in the tent and she overhears this promise. Sarah scoffed at that and laughed and she, like all of us, struggled with trusting the lord about that. And she thought, you know, how how am i going to have a baby now . Im too old. Sarahs story is one of the only times in scripture that we see someone laughing at one of gods promises. Its so ludicrous that she cant help but laugh. But then sarahs laughter gets commemorated In The Name Of her son isaac, in the hebrew talk means that he laughs. He rejoices. Years after isaacs birth, sarah was distressed over who would gain abrahams inheritance. Instead of waiting for gods plan, sarah asked abraham to exile hagar and ishmael to the desert. And abraham agreed. When hagar and ishmael are alone in the desert, starving and without water, it is this elemental confrontation with god that brings her to peace and also brings her to water for the first time in scripture. Is he not afraid . This emblematic thing that is said again and again to people in scripture from that point Going Forward begins with hagar. And of course, in scripture we see the climax of that being not afraid moment in the Resurrection Garden when jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and tells her to be not afraid. That lack of fear is the inheritance of hagar that carries forward throughout all of scripture. When i think about sarah and hagar, i think what a complicated relationship. Her lives were just woven together in a way that was very difficult but very common at the time. They both had expectations that did not pan out for them. They both went through seasons of pain and things that they found very difficult. But i think we learn a lot through them in that they see promises fulfilled, some of them maybe not even in their lifetime. Many of the promises made to them came long after they lived here on earth. When your cats hungry, you definitely know. When he wants your attention, he makes it clear. When he wants to be left alone, he makes it obvious. But if your cat has oa pain, also known as osteoarthritis pain, he may be saying ow in different ways. Its a longlasting condition that makes it painful for your cat to move like they once did, like when walking or climbing. Red flags are everywhere. But cats are really good at hiding their pain, so you just need to know what to look for. Visit catredflags. Com to learn about the signs of oa pain and how your vet can help. Mara, are you sure you dont want To Go Bowling with us tonight . Yeah. No. Theres my little marzipan [ laughs ] oh, my daughter gives the best hugs were just passing through on our way to the jazz jamboree. [ Imitates Trumpet Playing ] and we wanted to thank americas numberone Motorcycle Insurer for saving us money. Thank you. [ laughs ] mara, your parents are exactly like me . I know, right . Well, cherish your friends and loved ones. Lets roll, daddio lets boogiewoogie thank you for joining me on this journey of walking down the paths of these Women Of The Bible. God bless you. P6 i am Shannon Bream from The Middle East their rising tensions around the globe this morning. In almost two years since the end of the War In Afghanistan, divided Administration Releases its report on americas withdrawal and points the finger of blame elsewhere. Expresident s decision to end the War In Afghanistan is the right one. From the stock of chaos i just did not see progress white house officials shift the blame of the chaotic exit from americas longest war to the president