Running Ahead of God

Genesis 16:1-4 -  Now Sar'ai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar;  and Sar'ai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar'ai.  So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sar'ai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.  And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 

Sarai…she wanted a child so bad.  The curse of barrenness was and still is a very hard burden to bear. I wonder at this point if Abram even shared the promise of God with her…such a conversation between them is not recorded.  But for want of a child…knowing of the promise or not… feeling the wear and tear of years on her own body…being tricked …I am sure by Satan into believing that she could never bare a child of her own…concocted an Earthly way to have the child that God had promised to her husband. So she offers her hand maid to Abram...and intends to claim the resulting child as her own. It was a common practice for the day….and Abram was never told the promised son would be Sarai’s at this point…so he accepts the plan…and the mess begins.

Oh what a mess she creates….a mess that overflows with bad attitude and hurt feelings and a pregnancy that backfires into so much animosity that Hagar runs away in fear. It takes a few angels to appear and speak an attitude adjustment into Hagar…the grace of God knowing that he could use this child created from fear and lack of faith to build another great nation. And so she returns …and the plan seems to be working in Sarai’s favor…for now. She even complicates the mess by blaming  Abram for her frustration…as if he should have had some great insight …and told her before he took Hagar to be his wife that it was a bad idea.

I know how hurtful these scenarios can get…how complicated and deceiving they can be. I have created a few messes myself in my lifetime….because I tried to jump ahead of God…and use Earthly tactics to help bring about what I thought was his will. Some of those messes I created by acting of my own power…I am still waiting for God to completely heal. I wish some days that God had intervened…as I am sure Sarai was thinking when she lashed out so strongly at Abram…wanting the mess to just go away. But that is not how God works.  God allows the natural consequences of our mess to teach us how we should have had more faith and waited for him to supernaturally weld his plan. And then God takes that mess and turns it into a mighty message for him. He sometimes even blesses the mess and uses it to build a great thing in others lives…like he did Hagar. Nothing is too complicated for God…God can bring good out of the most evil deeds.

Father…I need you to forgive me for all the times I have raced in front of you with ways to speed up what I thought was your will in my life. And I thank you for the grace that you have welded into those Earthly ideas…and the mercy that kept them from completely destroying anyone’s life or faith. Help me this morning to accept your time frame….to wait on you the next time I have a temptation to use the creative brain you gave me to work my own plan. Help me Lord to wait on you to work a supernatural wonder in my life…help me Lord to be content with where I am on this journey…and enjoy the small joys along the way to see your great plan for me unfold.  Bind Satan far from me…so he will not be able to deceive me into welding a plan to make any more messes.  And thank you Lord…for using my messes to teach me….and thank you Lord for the mercy that continues to use me in spite of my weak faith. Amen.