A Lack of Faith
One of the great chapters in the Old Testament is Genesis 15, where God makes a covenant with Abraham to bless him with a son, as well as countless offspring, as numerous as the stars in the sky. And verse 6says that Abram believed him.
But then in chapter 16, sin creeps into Abram and his family's life, and you and I can often fall into the same traps that they did. So let's look at what happens in chapter 16.
Trusting God's Timing
Firstly, in verse one we read this: “Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. So she said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go sleep with my slave. Perhaps I can build a family through her.’”
I think this is typical of human nature. God promises something, and you and I, instead of believing him, start to doubt when it doesn't happen in the time that we think it should happen.
I think this reveals a lack of faith in our lives, doubting the timing that God has in mind. We want things to happen on our watch, but over and over again, God proves in our lives that his timing is right, and if we try to force his hand, we bring sorrow upon ourselves.
Faith Over Culture
Now, what Sarai did was not a radical thing in those days. It was quite normal, in fact, for a married woman who couldn't have children to give a female servant to her husband so that the family could have children. But that was not God's way.
And again, I look at how we in our world today so often just follow the ways of the culture. These are the norms of our culture, and so we'll do them rather than sticking to what God has promised in his Word and holding on in hope for his timing.
Is there an area in your life where you're impatient at the moment? Don't fold to the ways of the culture of the world around us in order to get what you want, but hold to the promises of God. Read your Bible and find the promises of God in there and hold to them. Because as we'll see, no good comes from doing it our own way instead of God's.
