“So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.” (Genesis 16:3–4, ESV)
And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Have you ever had one of those, “Well, duh!” moments? Life can be riddled with them, can’t it?
So often we fail to envision the results of our decisions until after we make them. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20-20. However, in reality, it isn’t a lot of help for the mistake we have already made, except to lead us to repentance and to cry out to God for mercy over our failure. If we are to turn around our troubles, we will have to come to some honest realities about our choices and our lack of patient faith in God.
Sarai saw the pain of the moment and failed to comprehend the potential pain of the future. Having children isn’t a decision to jump into rashly when biology isn’t working. Surrogacy is not new. Popular in Abraham’s day, the process was more tactile, less test tube.
Such a hands-on approach was sure to rouse the realities of God’s design, though Creation was over 2,000 years in the past. God had said it was “very good” to have one wife for your life. This design of two people in a marriage allowed God to stamp His approval and wisdom on the family unit. That is something not to trifle with.
Despite the difficulties in having a child, and they had been having them for well over a decade, God had promised abundance and miracles into the life and future of this tested couple (See Genesis 12:1-4). When God makes a promise, it is His problem to deliver!
As you think about your life at this moment, what promises are you holding on to from God’s heart? Whether you read them in His Word or you heard them whispered through His Spirit, God has probably told you something that is unimaginable.
Trust God. Obey His words. Trust His timing. Wait for his fulfillment. While I know it can be both frustrating and painful, when God delivers you will be as happy as a small child. God knows. Wait!
Turn-Around Tuesdays are designed to bring hope and help, insight and encouragement to those of us who are simply overwhelmed by the flood of problems life throws at us. No one is immune to trials and troubles, but God has a way of lifting us from life’s torrents. Each short thought is written by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, Executive Director of Eagles In Leadership, and comes from his life-journey with the God who never leaves us or forsakes us. He welcomes your comments below.
