The pain of waiting for God
Media > Adventures with Abraham > The pain of waiting for God
October 28, 2018
After 10 years of waiting in Canaan, Sarai proposes to Abram her husband, that he take Hagar a maidservant, to be his wife, to bear a child and unlock the promises God had given them. Abram agrees and Hagar conceives. However, the results are catastrophic. Using language reminiscent of the Fall we see total relationship breakdown, blame & abdication of responsibility as Hagar is forced to flee. Fortunately God sees and comes to Hagar, He promises her offspring will multiply too and sends her back to Abram and Sarai. This episode teaches us the lessons of waiting on God. How our pain, insecurity and disappointments can cause us to stumble and fall as we try and do God’s job for Him. Yet how even in our folly God sees & hears and comes to restore.
Genesis 16 (Listen)
Sarai and Hagar
16:1 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 children1 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.2 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,3
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,”4 for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”5 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;6 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.
Footnotes
[1] 16:2
[2] 16:4
[3] 16:11
[4] 16:13
[5] 16:13
[6] 16:14
(ESV)
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.
Visit us
If you’d like to visit us the best way to start is by joining us on a Sunday at 10:30, at Harborne Academy.
This is a newly refurbished school and there is plenty of parking available.
If you’d like to get in touch, visit us or if you’ve got any questions about our church then we’d love to hear from you.
07528 924420
hello@kingschurchbirmingham.org
King's Church Birmingham was planted by & has an ongoing relationship with Grace Church Nottingham and is a member of the Evangelical Alliance.