For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38,39).
Sarah Edwards knew intimately all of life’s joys and sorrows. She was blessed with a loving and faithful 
husband, eleven children, and many good friends. But she also suffered the loss of her home, her reputation, several children, and eventually her husband. She knew what prosperity was like, and also extreme poverty. She knew security and comfort, but also very real mortal danger. When she proclaimed Romans 8:38,39 as one of her favorite verses, she meant it and lived it.
Sarah Pierrepont was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1710. She was the daughter of a famous minister, James Pierrepont. Her family was wealthy and respected in this Puritan community. Sarah’s father died when she was only four, but her mother continued to raise her in a godly fashion.
Sarah was not only a beautiful young woman, but she was deeply pious. Jonathan Edwards was struck by this inner beauty in Sarah, impressed with her joy in the Lord, and loved her for her passion for God. Sarah loved to take walks and think about God and the beauty of His creation and often burst into song praising Him.
Sarah and Jonathan were married on July 28, 1727. She was seventeen; he was twenty-five. Jonathan had been ministering as co-pastor of the church in Northampton, where his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, had been ministering since 1669. This dynamic preacher was leading one of the largest congregations in New England. Jonathan would become the senior pastor when Solomon Stoddard died in 1729.
In the next few years, thanks in part to Jonathan Edwards, the First Great Awakening, which spread throughout the colonies, would occur. After preaching a sermon that is still famous to this day, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Jonathan noted that church members were repenting and renewing their lives in droves. In a congregation where the love of God had grown somewhat cold over the years, revival broke out. Three Hundred people were converted in six months.
This was a real spiritual high for Jonathan and Sarah. Their home was crowded with people seeking spiritual guidance for many years. Of course, they gave the credit for the change in people’s lives to the Holy Spirit.
Sarah underwent a spiritual “revival” of her own. Her experience has been described by some as mystical, by others as ecstatic. Once while Jonathan was away from home, she took to her bed and was prostrate for nineteen days. She was alternately very talkative and then unable to speak. She felt the love of God and the love of her neighbors so much that she would get up and dance around for joy. Many criticized her experience as nervous instability. When the very serious Jonathan came home he questioned her carefully to find out what happened.
Jonathan had been known as the quiet, scholarly type, not given to mystical experience. He became convinced after questioning Sarah that her experience was real. He gave it time to see what would happen. Very real changes took place in her life and he became convinced that intimate communion with God could indeed manifest itself in the experiences such as Sarah had. Over the coming years, Jonathan would see that Sarah’s peace and joy were continual.
Where once Sarah feared the gossip and criticism that was normal for all pastor’s wives, she now was only concerned with what God thought of her. Once she was worried about all of the dangers present in the mid 1700’s for herself, her husband, and her children. Now she was totally resigned to God. She knew for certain that He was her protector and would always love her. She would totally trust in Him from then on.
It was a good thing that she resigned her all to God, because now the testing would begin.
In just a few more years, around 1742, the Lord would plummet the Edwards’ from the spiritual high to a low point. A disgruntled cousin of Jonathan’s would spread slander around ruining the minister’s reputation and eventually resulting in his dismissal from the church in 1750. Jonathan and Sarah took the high road, neither fighting back nor feeling the need to defend themselves. Sarah proved her new love and conciliation toward God and others by never uttering a bad word about any of the people in the congregation who were engaged in the gossip.
Sarah also suffered the trials of war. The French and Indian War began in 1744. It was actually a war between England and France, and both sides hired the Indians to help them. The colonists became targets as the French paid money for scalps. Several of Sarah’s neighbors actually lost their lives in this way. A watchtower was built in their yard so that the town’s militia could keep a look out for Indian attacks. Friends tried to get them to leave, but their response was that they were safest where God wanted them. Sarah was courageously depending on God, proving that her promise to rely only on Him was genuine.
Another testing from God came when Sarah’s daughter, Jerusha, died from tuberculosis. A famous missionary to the native Americans, David Brainerd came to visit the Edwards’. Jerusha and David fell in love. It seemed like one of those matches made in Heaven since both young people were intensely devoted to God and to telling of His salvation to others. But David Brainerd had been suffering from consumption for some time in 1747. Jerusha attempted to nurse him. David died in October, and Jerusha the following February 1748. Sarah could have been bitter, but she knew that she would see Jerusha again in Heaven.
After they were dismissed, penniless, from the church in Northampton, Jonathan and Sarah moved to the frontier where they worked among the native Americans. How different this was from the city. But Sarah, always trusting God to provide, adapted to her new surroundings easily. Actually she enjoyed the country where she could go for walks in God’s beautiful creation. Their children enjoyed making friends with the native children and several of them even became bilingual.
Sarah would experience the joy of seeing her daughters happily married. Of course the grandchildren would add much to their family as well.
But God would again send her mixed blessings. In 1757 Jonathan accepted the call to become the president of New Jersey College. While he was there, he and their daughter Esther both took the inoculation for smallpox. Though there were risks with the inoculation, they were minimal compared to getting the disease itself. As the Lord would have it, Jonathan did not recover from the inoculation and died in 1758. Esther died shortly afterwards leaving two orphaned children behind.
Sarah was devastated but though she had lost two dear ones, she still loved God who gave her blessings and took them away. She said, “The Lord has done it: He has made me adore his goodness that we had him so long. But my God lives and he has my heart.”
Sarah began to raise her two grandchildren. She was still healthy at age forty-eight, but she contracted dysentery and died after being ill only five days. She died peacefully and was buried in the graveyard with Jonathan.
Both Jonathan and Sarah died tragic, early deaths. But their influence was felt for many years. The Great Awakening transformed many in large, spiritually sleepy churches. The groundwork was laid for Protestant missions.
Nine of Sarah’s eleven children grew up to live fruitful, fulfilled lives. Eventually over 100 missionaries were numbered from this one family. Thousands upon thousands have been blessed by the writings of Jonathan Edwards. His ability to produce so many books was largely due to Sarah’s support, especially during all of the times of adversity, danger, and poverty.
Near the end of her life, she wrote in a letter, “O what a legacy my husband and your father has left us! We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be.”
A wonderful DVD that you can obtain for more information on this courageous woman is:
“An Uncommon Union: The Life and Love of Sarah and Jonathan Edwards”.
It is distributed by Vision Video, Box 540, Worcester, PA 19490.
www.visionvideo.com
