God, I Started without You
Genesis 16
Have you ever been promised something and you waited patiently for that promise and nothing happened. You got your hopes up and nothing. Well, instead of waiting longer you decide to get that promise one way or another.Abram and Sarai still did not have any children. He was pushing 85 years old and Sarai was 75. God told Abram and even made a contract the last chapter to show how serious he was with his promise but looking at Abram and Sarai’s age it was looking doubtful. Sarai thought well if I can’t get pregnant than maybe my property- her handmaid Hagar- could. During this time anything your servant had was yours because they were your property.
Sarai as well as Abram were thinking maybe this is what God meant with the children thing which was far from the truth. They were rushing God’s plan in their life and were not being patient with Him. Hagar was going to give birth to a son whom was going to be named Ishmael. Sarai regretted what she did by offering Hagar to her husband. The result was hostility in which Hagar ran away. There in the wilderness God spoke to Hagar. Through God intervening, Hagar went back to Abram obediently as the Lord said and she named her son Ishmael which means “God has heard”.
God is Patient
God is patient with us. Even when we aren’t patient with him. We will see what happens in the life of Abram and Sarai in the next couple of chapters but God did not stop after their stupid mistake. God still will have the plan unfolding but it is in his perfect timing. God is very patient. God waited 120 years before sending the flood to give mankind a chance of repentance. He was patient with Israel all throughout their history. God is even patient with us right now. 2nd Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God is waiting patiently even before he comes and judges the earth. Do you wait patiently for the Lord? Do you rush his plans by wanting to do it your way? Trust the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
What a good message! It`s like God is the potter, we are the clay, & God wanted to mold us into something great, but we wouldn`t cooperate and we wanted to shape ourselfs. Like the message is called , ” God, I started without you ” . Let`s not be like the Israelites when Joshua was leading them when they were suppossed to march around the city, but they didn`t want to! They wanted to do things their own way and go back to Egypt as slaves! Why would they want to go back to the very thing they wanted to get a way from! God knows best, after all, He created us!! So let`s follow Him instead of ourselves!
Comment by Melonie on February 19, 2008 at 1:56 pm