“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.”
Genesis 16:1-4
Abram had heard God’s voice tell him he would father many nations, have many descendants, and have an heir. It doesn’t get much clearer than that when hearing a promise about having children.
What is it that made Abram stop waiting for God to fulfill His promise and take matters into his own hands?
Some would say it was waiting thirteen years, which did play a part I’m sure, but I believe it had more to do with what voice Abram was listening to, the presumptuous voice of Sarai instead of the Lord’s voice of provision.
In the Ancient Middle East it was a huge embarrassment to not have an heir to carry on the family name. Sarai felt as though she was a failure and shaming her husband and family. Abram I’m sure wasn’t necessarily voicing God’s promises in faith seeing that He so willingly took Hagar as a surrogate mother. So what we have here is an important lesson on what to do when waiting on the Lord.
Zuwd is the Hebrew verb meaning to act presumptuously; it implies arrogance, pride, rebellion, and insolence. Throughout the Bible we see many different characters actually sinning when acting presumptuously… Korah, Miriam, Aaron, Saul, some kings and prophets, to name a few. We see that to presume our own ideas instead of proclaiming God’s promises is a big mistake. When Sarai tried to save face in the embarrassing situation of not being able to have kids, she actually acted in rebellion to God’s promise by urging Abram to make things happen with Hagar. Abram in turn sinned by ignoring God’s voice and listening instead to Sarai’s presumptuous advice, which only lead to division, heartache, and strife.
When we choose not to believe God’s promises we sin and bring hurt, heartache, and division to our lives and the lives of the ones we love. Abram would later learn that God always intended to do just as He said, and would receive the blessings that only God could bring.
I suggest if you also want to be one who experiences God’s power and blessing at work in the promises meant for you, you too will believe, proclaim, and wait upon the Lord’s promises until God sees fit to establish them.
Save everyone a whole heap of hurt and simply trust God, you’ll find it to be more rewarding than you think.
