Eve, Sarah, and Hagar

More Than Proverbs 31: Biblical Womanhood Beyond the Stereotype

Post 2: Eve, Sarah, and Hagar

Womanhood in the Real World Biblical womanhood doesn’t begin with a polished checklist. It begins with real women in real pain through choices, consequences, waiting, and wilderness seasons.

Before there was a stereotype of the “perfect Christian woman,” there were women learning to trust God when life didn’t look the way they hoped. 

Eve: Consequence… and Mercy

Eve’s story is often reduced to one moment in the garden, but she was not a cartoon villain. She was the first woman, the first wife, and the first mother. And her story shows us something honest: womanhood is sacred and it is costly.

Eve believed a lie, and in that one decision everything changed. The world became heavier. Marriage became strained. Motherhood became painful. Life became complicated. The consequence was real.

But what’s just as real is this: God did not abandon her. He came looking for His children. He spoke. He corrected. And then He covered them…an act of mercy that echoes all the way forward to Christ. Eve reminds us that even when sin fractures our peace, God doesn’t stop pursuing His daughters.

Eve teaches us: your worst moment is not God’s final word over you.

Sarah: Waiting Until You’re Tired of Hoping

Sarah’s story is for every woman who has waited so long that hope starts to feel embarrassing.

God promised her a son, but the years stretched on. Her body aged. Her situation didn’t change. Her prayers didn’t seem answered. And eventually Sarah laughed, not because it was funny, but because the ache had become too deep to hold quietly.

Sarah shows us what many women feel but don’t always say out loud: waiting can make you weary. Waiting can stretch a woman thin. Waiting can make you take matters into your own hands.

But God doesn’t ignore Sarah’s doubt. He confronts it. And yet He doesn’t reject her. He remains faithful even when her faith falters, because the promise rests on His character, not her perfect strength.

God’s question to Sarah still speaks today: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).

Sarah teaches us: God’s promises do not depend on our perfect faith. They depend on His perfect faithfulness.

Hagar: El Ro’i — The God Who Sees Me

Hagar’s story is one of the most tender and painful accounts of womanhood in Scripture because she represents what it feels like to be powerless.

She was used. Mistreated. Blamed. Discarded. When she became inconvenient, she was sent away into the wildernes, carrying a pregnancy, fear, and a future that suddenly felt unsafe.

But this is where Hagar’s story becomes unforgettable: God met her there. Not after she cleaned up her life. Not after she became “important enough.” Not after someone else decided she mattered.

God met her in the wilderness.

And Hagar gave God one of the most personal names in all of Scripture: El Ro’i — “The God Who Sees Me.”

That name is for the woman who feels overlooked. For the woman holding emotional burdens no one notices. For the woman who has been misunderstood, mistreated, or forgotten.

You may be unseen by people but you are not unseen by God.

Hagar teaches us: God’s care reaches the woman the world treats as disposable.

What These Women Teach Us

Eve teaches us God covers shame with mercy.

Sarah teaches us God keeps promises through long waiting.

Hagar teaches us God sees us in the wilderness—El Ro’i.

Biblical womanhood isn’t about being flawless. It’s about clinging to the Lord through real life.

Sometimes faith looks like strength.

Sometimes it looks like endurance.

Sometimes it looks like simply whispering: “God, You see me.”

Closing Prayer Lord, when I feel ashamed like Eve, meet me with mercy. When I feel weary like Sarah, strengthen my faith. When I feel unseen like Hagar, remind me You are El Ro’i, the God who sees me. Amen.