Waiting On Isaac And Giving Birth To Ishmael

"Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him any children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See here, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. I am asking you to go in to [the bed of] my maid [so that she may bear you a child]; perhaps I will [a]obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to Sarai and did as she said."

                                    --Genesis 16:1-3 AMP

I am not one who enjoys waiting. Yet a good chunk of time in life is spent doing just that. We wait in line at the grocery store. We wait in traffic. We wait on a promotion at work or perhaps we wait on the results of an interview. We wait on test results. We wait on the mail. We wait on people and relationships. We wait and we wait and we wait some more. Waiting is exhausting. Waiting is tiring. I would daresay that waiting is without a doubt one of the most frustrating tests of our every day life. How often do we get so tired of waiting we decide to hurry things up a bit with a brilliant idea or two of our own? And just as often I wonder of the results of these brilliant ideas. Have they helped the current situation and yielded exactly as was hoped for? Or did they muddy up the waters putting off that very thing God was preparing for us IF we would have just been patient and wait on His will and His timing?

Sarah had a bright idea!

In Genesis we read she and Abram (later to be named Abraham) were unable to have children of their own. Mind you, the Lord has already made known His promise to make Abram a father of multitudes. Keep in mind also he and Sarah were well past their peak, Abram being in his late 80s while Sarah (then called Sarai) was in her late 70s. Most if not all people are done with the notion of children by the time they are as old as Abram and Sarai. However God does not work the same as we do and His purpose was higher than man's. He made a promise to Abram and Sarai. They just had to wait..and wait..and wait some more. Which is what they did until Sarai grew tired of waiting on the Lord's timing. She gives her handmaiden to her husband as a secondary wife so that children might come as the end result. Now, what was Abram's  response? Did he say, "Uh, yeah, no Sarai, I believe we should continue to wait on what the Lord has promised! No good is going to come from this!" Not even close! Genesis 16 goes on to say Abram does take Hagar as a secondary wife and the end result, of course, is Hagar becomes pregnant. After which she mocks Sarai.

What happens next? A little game that has been going on since the garden; buck passing and blame shifting. Verse 5 finds Sarai saying, “May [the responsibility for] the wrong done to me [by the arrogant behavior of Hagar] be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, and when she realized that she had conceived, I was despised and looked on with disrespect. May the Lord judge [who has done right] between you and me.” 

What is Abram's response? “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her. (v.6)  In other words, "This was YOUR idea, Sarai, not mine! YOU deal with it!" 

Sounds about right, doesn't it?

God had a good plan for Abram and Sarai. He answered the longing of their hearts for a child. Part of that good plan was a time of waiting. God had a purpose and a time already set for the arrival of Isaac. Unfortunately the wait was long and tedious to the point of Sarai having what she believed was an "A-Ha!" moment. That moment led to jealousy, bitterness, and division that is still very much alive and well in the world today. 

God and His timing is trustworthy and reliable. He is rarely early but He is never late. Though not easy to do, the reward of waiting on the promise of Isaac far outweighs the pain of giving birth to Ishmael!

                                                           Devotional Time

In the quiet of these moments, stop and reflect on times of waiting. How did you approach that particular season? With obedience and trust or, like Sarai, did you have an "A-Ha!" moment and take matters into your own hands? What were the results?