Tobit & Sarah

Synopsis     Tobit 3:1-10     8/30/2020 

Tobit expreienced a great deal of sadness. As a young man, Assyrian forces exiled him from homeland in Naphtali to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Later, the king of Assyria sought to kill him for helping persecuted Israelites. And though he survived persecution, sparrows dropped waste into his eyes as he slept. The waste blinded him. And no physician could help.  

As a result, Tobit despaired because of his circumstances. So, he begged God to take his life.  

Far away, in another Assyrian city, a young Israelite woman named Sarah similarly despaired. A demon persecuted her by killing her husbands on the evening of each of her marriages. As a result, people mocked and humiliated her.   

So, after a while, she decided to take her own life. But as she prepared to end it all, she began to realize the impact her death would have on her father. And so, she thought better of her decision. Instead, she likewise decided to beg God to take her life.  

Tobit and Sarah 

Tobit and Sarah each hated their circumstances. And eventually, they came to the conclusion that nothing could ever change.  And so, they asked God to end their lives.  

The Prayer for Death 

Emotional pain is real. And I suppose most have felt deep emotional pain at some point on their journey.  

But the real danger of emotional pain is that I get so caught up in my pain that I forget to look outward in love. This kind of inward collapse is desperate.

This story gives clarity to the distinction between the transitory hope of the old testament and the anticipatory hope of the Good News.

Jesus changes everything! 

“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” Rom 12:12