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17 January 2024

Reading From Genesis 16-18

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’  Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.  When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.  Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.’ ‘Your slave is in your hands,’ Abram said. ‘Do with her whatever you think best.’ Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.”

–Genesis 16:1-6

     God had promised that Abram and Sarai would be the parents of a great nation and that all the nations would be blessed through their family.  At the Tower of Babel, people were pridefully trying to make a name for themselves and reach God on their terms.  But in Genesis 12, God said that He would be the one to make Abram’s name great and bless others through him.  Abram and Sarai have been living in Canaan for ten years and there’s still no family, so Sarai cooks up her own plan.  She’s trying to make things happen instead of waiting for God to provide the way.  God did not tell Abram to take another wife, but Sarai tells her husband to have sex with her servant Hagar and Abram was like (my paraphrase), “Sure!  Why not?  You don’t have to tell me twice.” 

     All of this had ramifications far beyond their household.  Sin, no matter how small it seems, has a bigger impact on ourselves and others than we realize.[1]  Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, he became the father of twelve nations[2] and it is said that modern day Arabs are Ishmaelites.[3]  Think of the struggles between Ishmael and Isaac in the Middle East today.  All because Sarai did not want to follow God’s plan. In Eden, the husband blamed the wife for their troubles,[4] now in Canaan it’s the wife blaming the husband for the fallout from her own scheme![5]  Waiting is tough and patience is in short supply when we are functioning in our own strength with our own understanding.[6]  But when God gives me His promise, I can bank on it.  When He speaks to me, the message is in perfect alignment with what is already written in His Word and I need to rely on Him to fulfill it.[7]  “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”[8]

“Lord God, help me to trust in You and in Your plan.  Your timing is perfect.  Please focus my heart and mind on serving You while I wait for You to work everything out for Your glory and for my good.  I pray that I won’t depend on my own knowledge and know-how, but that I would follow Your direction and give You the honor and praise.  You are worthy of my worship.  You know what is best and when is best.  Amen.”

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.”

–Proverbs 3:5-6

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[1] Isaiah 59:2, James 1:15, John 8:34

[2] Genesis 17:20

[3] Ishmael | Meaning, Facts, & Significance | Britannica

[4] Genesis 3:12

[5] Genesis 16:5

[6] Romans 12:12

[7] Philippians 1:6

[8] Zechariah 4:6