Our Own Hands


"So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife.(This happened ten years after had settled in the land of Canaan.) So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt." Genesis 16:4-5

The solution was obvious as far as I was concerned. If we were going to avoid bottoming out in the shallow water, we needed to get our canoe right up to the bank where the current was flowing fast and the water was deeper. The problem with my idea was that "right up to the bank" involved encountering substantial tree limbs followed by a large splash. All could have been avoided with a more patient examination.

Sarai looked around at the reality of the situation, her barrenness and Abram with no heir, and identified the obvious and common solution in their world of having a servant carry a child for Abram. Apparently, Abram thought this was a great idea and entered into it wholeheartedly. However, their solution was not God's. They took matters into their own hands and ended up producing an incredible amount of grief for everyone involved.

God loves us. He will work all things together for good, even things that don't feel good. His ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. This reality troubles us deeply as we struggle to wait on him as our hurts reach unbearable levels. "I'll take care of this," we decide. Typically, all we end up doing is making things worse and/or live in constant stress and anxiety. Trusting Jesus is the path to peace. Let's stay on it. 

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