Genesis 16:1 “A Handmaid Named Hagar”
“Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian handmaid whose name was Hagar."
Abram is now 86 and Sarai is 76. God had promised Abram, “You’re going to have a family as numerous as the stars in the heavens.” But, this promise seemed to be slipping away and Sarai begins to feel she will never conceive. So she devises a plan to help God out with His promise and offers her husband her Egyptian handmaid, Hagar.
When God gives a promise, there is often a gap of time between the giving of the promise and the fulfillment of it. In Abram’s case it would be a thirteen-year gap. God’s delays are usually due to preparation not procrastination or preoccupation. He is preparing us in the area of faith and thereby strengthening us to carryout His will and purposes.
We’ve all been impatient or taken short cuts – but here in our text in trying to help God out, Abram and Sarai unwittingly gave birth to the Middle East tension that exists to this day.
Be patient, prayerfully seek His guidance, ask for wisdom and He will direct your path.
The Truth
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
