“Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian handmaid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. After Abram lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. He went into her, and she conceived." (vv.1-4)
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. Sarai has become a schemer just as Abraham previously had. The consequences of that choice by Sarai will be long lasting.
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, and have probably experienced some sort regret for doing so. But, whenever we attempt to help out the Lord (as if He needs it) with one of His promises, we can get ourselves into real trouble. The Lord wants us to trust in Him and to allow Him to do His work and provide for us, not for us to attempt to "make it happen" with the cleverness of our fleshly mind. What great grief we cause ourselves and others by trying to help God out with His plan, as evidenced by this story and the events that followed.
"So Hagar (the maid) bore a son; and Abram called the name of his son which Hagar bore, Ishmael" (v.16).
With the birth of Ishmael, Abram and Sarai unwittingly gave birth to the Middle East tension that still exists to this day. The Arab nations (descended from Ishmael, the son of the maid servant) and Israel (descended from Abraham’s legitimate heir, Isaac) continue to be bitter enemies. The great lesson here for all of us is, as we seek God’s will for your lives, we need to seek His timetable as well. Don’t allow impatience to carry us ahead of God. Doing the right thing at the wrong time makes the right thing the wrong thing.
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)
