Last chapter I indicated how Abram was not just following procedures, but was focused on following God’s instructions and not letting anything interfere. Well, today we see the other side.
“So she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.'”
It’s been said that patience is a virtue. Even though God promises Abram that he would have descendants greater than the stars, Abram and Sarai were getting older and they still had not conceived a child. By Sarai telling Abram to go through with this, implies that Sarai is impatient and feels as though God is not keeping His promise.
Abram, now 85 years old, loses his focus on following the procedure and allows his hearts desire of having an heir trump God’s promise, and takes this opportunity into his own hands.
It can be easy to seize opportunities by taking control of a situation that allows for our will to be done. May we be patient in those times, remain focused on God’s goodness, and allow His plan to unfold in His time.
Lock Your Wings 
In the ESV version it says, “And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.”
(Vs 2).
This version was intriguing for me because it made it seem like perhaps Sarai believed God’s will was to have children through Hagar. In hindsight, we know this was not what God wanted, but it seems from this version of the Bible that maybe Sarai believed it was.
I wonder if I ever do something, believing it is to fulfill God’s will, when really it is an act of impatience on my part?
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The thing that stood out for me today was that Hagar received the same promise as Abram: that her descendants would be too many to count. I know that Abram would also gain that since Ismael was his son but what promise to Hagar in her misery.
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True. Discerning God’s will apart from our own desire, or impatience, is not always easy to do.
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Thanks for pointing that out. I had missed that!
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Im sure Hagar was happy to hear that she conceived a son, but I feel that it would have been hard to hear that your son would be “a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him”. It’s one of those scenarios that someone asks “do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news first?”.
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