Genesis 16:1Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
This experience of Abraham's mistake with Hagar is full of instruction for us, for we observe in it, the far reaching consequences of a wrong course of action. God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son, and in the fulness of time, He would have fulfilled His word, but whenever we are required to wait on God, the time spent waiting is always fraught with the temptation to move ahead with our own plans. This is what Abraham did, and for a while it seemed as if the promise of God was fulfilled through a method of their own devising, however, a few years later when Isaac was born, the result of that one hasty move began to surface, and it was not pretty, for there was a constant feud between Sarah and Hagar, vying for Abraham's attention. Let's read:
Genesis 21:8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. 11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
The family feud that was thus started continues to our day as is seen in the irresolvable disputes between the descendents of Isaac, and those of Ishmael. What many Christians do not realize is that the snares of the devil are not designed for a momentary fall, but are rather structured to cause damage and heartache for many, many years to come, and that's why we should avoid making crucial mistakes by waiting upon God to fulfill His word. Here is where many of us fall, for we often get weary of waiting, and so we take matters into our own hands, only to find out later, that the much better plan of God was right around the corner.
In our day the same mistake is repeated in the form of hasty marriages, where the first person of our choice, whom we think is the only person on the planet, grabs our attention, and we get so involved and intimate with the individual before praying and waiting on God, that it is often the case that the knot is tied before God's perfect match for us is brought out way. That's one of the reasons why so many marriages end on the rocks, for sometimes after the novelty of initial romance of the first few years wears off, and the reality of the hasty choice thus made begins to materialize, then the next wrong move is usually to end the marriage, since many are not willing to deal with the resulting unfavorable circumstances.
God is reminding us today that there still is such a thing as Mr. and Mrs right, but the only way they can come together is if the necessary prayer and patience is exercised. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which will enable us to avoid making crucial mistakes by waiting upon God to fulfill His promises in due season. Let's read:
Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
May this promise be appropriated by us today, for He is faithful to His every word. God bless!