A WOMAN OF VALOR

SARAH

And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. Genesis 23:1

Sarah lived to be one hundred and twenty-seven years old, and every one of those years was good. How can that be? Doesn’t every life have ups and downs, good years and some not so good?

Sarah’s life clearly did. For most of her adult years, Sarah was barren, she was kidnapped twice, and she had to deal with the difficult personalities of Hagar and Ishmael in her home. So how can the sages make such an outrageous claim?

What makes any year a good one? Is it the one in which we earn the most money? Or when we enjoy a wonderful vacation? The sages teach there is only one criterion for judging any year, or any day, for that matter: How much did we grow?

Life is about changing and improving. It’s about learning and growing. Easy or hard, fun or boring, every day is measured by the degree to which we are different from the day before. Sarah was a prized student in the classroom of life. She knew how to learn from everything and everyone who came her way. That’s why the sages call her life good. By the truest standards of living, Sarah met the highest standards possible.

How we judge the content of our life is determined by how we lived it. Do we view our lives in the context of how we grow?

Sarah has been a good example to women and that age is just a step in the right direction. An example of a woman that is worthy of emulating. A woman that fears the Lord and was in subjection to her husband and the will of God.