God promised that Abram will become
the father of a great nation. He promised Abram the land and
descendants as numerous as the sand on the sea shore and the stars
in the sky. But unfortunately ten years after arriving in Canaan,
Abraham still didn't have an heir, no descendants to speak of. He
was already 85 years old and hope of the chance to have children
was fading away. So Sarai and Abram in their desperation made their
own plan to force God's promise to come to pass.
"But Sarai, Abram's wife, had
no children. So Sarai took her servant, an Egyptian woman named
Hagar, and gave her to Abram so she could bear his children. "The
Lord has kept me from having any children," Sarai said to Abram.
"Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through
her." And Abram agreed. So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the
Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife." Genesis
16:1-3
Sarai had become impatient. She
didn't want to wait a moment longer. She no longer trusted God for
His provision of His promises. She took matters into her own hands.
And what a terrible disaster that was. The moment Hagar found out
that she was pregnant; she began to treat Sarai with contempt. This
in turn led to heartache and conflict. Sarai immediately took the
problem to Abram and blamed him for her predicament:
"It's all your fault! Now this
servant of mine is pregnant, and she despises me, though I myself
gave her the privilege of sleeping with you. The Lord will make you
pay for doing this to me!" Genesis 16:5
I couldn't believe Sarai's reaction
when I read this. This whole debacle was her idea in the
first place and now she is blaming Abram for it! She couldn't wait
for God a minute longer, so she took matters into her own hands and
started to blame others when things didn't go her way. But then I
realised that we are just like her. We are all the same. We tend to
blame other people for the mistakes we make too. We rush forward,
we don't think of the consequences and then when things go haywire,
we blame the first one that comes to mind, instead of accepting
responsibility for our own actions.
Sometimes God tests our patience
and our faith by allowing us to wait on His perfect timing.
Sometimes other things need to fall into place first, before the
Lord will allow us to proceed with our calling. Sometimes He wants
to build our character during the time of waiting. Whatever the
reason may be, God has a plan and He knows what is best for us. Do
not rush ahead and jump the gun. Things will not work out nearly as
well as it would have if you just waited. Sarai had Ishmael to deal
with for the rest of her life. He was a real part of Abram and
nothing could undo what she did out of impatience. You might also
have 'Ishmael's' in your life that you need to 'deal with' for the
rest of your life, just because you couldn't wait.
Of course first prize would be that
you had waited for God's perfect timing in the first place. But
second prize is that you ask God how to deal with the 'Ishmael's'
in your life, due to your own impatience. God helped Hagar and
Ishmael and He turned him into a great nation as well. God does
work around our mistakes, and if we ask His forgiveness and His
guidance, He will never leave us or forsake us, but He will help us
on our route ahead. God is faithful and true and forgives all our
sins and will help us to deal with the 'Ishmael's' in our lives.
Please allow Him to. He knows best.
But if you are still in the waiting
season, take heart, you will not wait forever. Persevere and cling
unto God's promises. It will be worth the wait!
Father God please give us the
patience and the strength to wait on Your perfect timing for us.
Please come to our rescue and give us peace that we are on the
right track. But Father please forgive us if we haven't waited and
if we have made a mess of things. Please help us to stand up again
and help us to handle the situation to Your glory and honour. In
Jesus' Name. Amen