Am I Suffering from Abraham's and Sarah's Impatience?
Life can be so frustrating especially when God's blessings are delayed. While it's easy to memorize that God has a purpose for His delays but the application is very difficult. Such is the case of Sarah, she got so impatient that she did the absurd. In Genesis 16, we read how Sarah did something so immoral as to get a young Egyptian slave girl to serve as a surrogate mother for Abraham and Sarah. Just because it was legal didn't make immoral act as moral.
It could be time to consider that this was a violation of God's intended rule for marriage in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:24. It was one man and one woman. But Abraham did it anyway which was because they didn't rely on God's promises. Sarah was soon mocked as a result. Sarah didn't think of the consequences of getting a younger woman to bear them a son. If you know biology as long as a man's reproductive system remains intact then he can have babies even at the age of 85.
It could be time to consider that this was a violation of God's intended rule for marriage in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:24. It was one man and one woman. But Abraham did it anyway which was because they didn't rely on God's promises. Sarah was soon mocked as a result. Sarah didn't think of the consequences of getting a younger woman to bear them a son. If you know biology as long as a man's reproductive system remains intact then he can have babies even at the age of 85.
This has me thinking of Sarah's impatience. This impatience would cause her not only to be mocked but soon enough the ugly cycle would continue. Hagar soon fled and met the Angel of the LORD who is no ordinary angel. This is viewed as a pre-incarnate Christ who claims the attributes of God. The Angel of the LORD told her to go back to her mistress - though this wasn't going to be long either.
The problem of Sarah's asking Hagar to bear a son led to more consequences. God already promised a miracle child in Isaac. Genesis 17 tells us that God finally promised the miracle child. It had me thinking how often have I wanted to go ahead of God's perfect timing? Ishmael was not the chosen child and was soon sent out because Isaac was the only beloved son.
Genesis 21:9 says that soon enough we saw Ishmael making fun of his younger paternal half-brother Isaac. This was going to be a real problem. Sarah could no longer stand the mess she created that the illegitimate child Ishmael and his mother had to be sent out. But there is also another grace - God didn't forget about Ishmael. Although Ishmael's lineage would release several ungodly nations (and Isaac's too with Esau who would sire the Edomites) but God has not forgotten about them.
This has me thinking am I letting the flesh make me go ahead of God's timing? How many Christians have lost their testimony because of impatience. Would have Sarah waited then the Middle East conflict wouldn't have happened. But I'm thankful that God hasn't restricted salvation only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Fortunately, Jesus didn't only die for the children of Isaac but also for all races and the descendants of Esau and Ishmael are not excluded from the wonderful plan of salvation.