A Lack of Unity
And so a lack of faith in Sarai and a lack of conviction in Abram causes all sorts of problems in their lives, because Abram does what he shouldn't have done: slept with Hagar. She conceived, as we see in verse 4. And then listen to this: "When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.” And then in verse 6, “because of this, Sarai mistreated Hagar.”
Reconcile Relationships First
You see, friends, when we drift from God, when we try to do things our way, when we just ignore God and don't hold to his promises and do our thing, our relationships suffer. Hear that! Our relationships suffer when we follow sinful ways instead of following godly ways.
You know, God's morals and ethics in the Bible are not just there to try and spoil our fun, to try and whip us into shape or whatever it is. God shows us how to live so that we can thrive and live joyful and full lives. And when we don't, when we try to do our own thing, there are bad consequences and strain on our relationships is certainly one of those consequences.
I wonder if there's friction in certain relationships in your life. And I wonder if some of that is due to sin. And I'm not saying you're being punished, but I'm saying somewhere in the situation, maybe there were steps taken without God and that led to this friction.
Seek Reconciliation Always
And maybe this is why Jesus places such stock on reconciling with people before seeking God's blessing. Remember in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says “if you're offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift and first go and be reconciled, then come and offer your gift.” He's saying make things right. You know, don't leave this friction in your life.
Do you have some friction that you need to go and fix? God is always willing to help us reconcile and make things right.
And so beware of the consequences of sin, friends. Follow God's ways. Things will go better if we all do that.
But if we haven't and things have gone wrong, there is reconciliation, there is forgiveness in the name of Jesus.
Seek it, put it in place, and walk on in peace.
