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Genesis 16 (ESV)

Sarai and Hagar

¹ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. ² And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³ 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. ⁴ And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. ⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. ⁸ And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” ⁹ The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” ¹⁰ The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” ¹¹ And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
¹² He shall be a wild donkey of a man,
his hand against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

¹³ So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” ¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

REFLECTION

• Ten years after the promises that God made to Abram, there was still no sign of fulfillment. Sarai became impatient and decided to use human ways to help God out. The result was endless pain not only for her but also for generations to come.
• By thinking that we can “help” God out, we are trying to take control. How often these wrong decisions have led us into headache and turmoil!
• In the 21^st Century where everything is supposed to be fast and convenient for our sake, waiting before God is difficult. Are you able to recall a time when God taught you to wait. Go through the whole process slowly. How did you feel then? What did you learn about God and about yourself?  What new insight have you gained by recalling this experience now? If not, how can we learn to be patient?

PRAYER

Dear God, please teach me how to wait for You, because it is not an easy task! Your ways are higher than my ways, and Your wisdom is higher than my wisdom. Please strengthen my heart so that when I am in trouble, instead of trying to get out of the siege by myself, I seek Your help exclusively. Sometimes it seems that You hide Your face and ignore me and let me fall into hardships; God, please let me not be afraid at this time, let me understand that You are trying to refine my life, make it more mature and abundant! God, Your grace is enough for me, and the grace and peace You bestow will accompany me all my life. Amen!

HYMN

I Will Wait For You – youtu.be/_eJUqY_6tqo