Genesis 16:2 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.
I cannot tell you what a blessing my reading today was! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to rejoice in the blessings of God’s Word with you. I would love to hear about the special things you’re gleaning from Scripture, as well. It is so exciting to hear how God is working in people through His Word. He certainly works on me!
Just yesterday, I was discussing with my husband (in a rather frustrated tone) that I was tired of the problems we are facing, and have faced for many years now. When will it be over? It seems to get better, then get worse, then get better…you get the idea. My husband is a very patient man. He has the ability to “put away” the burdens and fully concentrate on other things. I cannot do that very easily. I dwell on the problems, putting them away for a few minutes, just to start dwelling on them again! I told him that I understood why so many pastor’s and missionary’s wives of yesteryear went crazy and had to be locked in their basements! Then I asked him if we could build a basement! I wanted my husband to “fix” our problems, or at least do something, even if what he did wasn’t going to fix it. He replied, “We have to wait. We have to wait on the Lord. When He tells me what to do, I’ll do it.” I didn’t want to wait. I was tired of waiting. I knew in my heart he was right, but I didn’t feel better about it. I remained discouraged.
Then, this morning, I read about Sarai (Sarah), and how she offered Abram a solution to their problem of not having a child. We know God had promised to make Abram a great nation (Gen.15:4-5), but when? That was the piece of information they didn’t have. If God had said, “Abram, I’ll make you a father on July 12 of next year” Sarah probably wouldn’t have been tempted to fix things, she just would have been crossing days off her calendar. But, she didn’t know the date. In her impatience, she convinced Abram to commit sin with her maid, Hagar, so that she could raise a child by her. Sarah’s plan backfired, and when Hagar became pregnant, Sarah became angry! Hagar saw that she was used in the situation and ran away, but God saw exactly where she was and he helped her.
Sarah tried to “fix” her problem, rather than just wait on God. By meddling with it, she made it worse. What a wonderful reminder to me that I must wait on God, not try fix my situation. My solution (whatever it may be) will not fix anything. I don’t have the date that my problem will go away – if I did, it wouldn’t be as big of a problem – but I have the Word of God, I have prayer, and I have Jesus walking beside me. Lord, help me as I wait on You!
valeriewritenow.com 