God's promises are always true even if we aren't. The life of Abraham is clear testimony! What trouble we could avoid if we could wait patiently for God to do what God always wants to do. A promise of a son and of a mighty nation that would come as a blessing to all the world should be enough, but it wasn't for Abram and Sarai and as a result Hagar and Ismael and the world became victims of impatience.
I have a great deal of sympathy for Hagar because of the culture in which she lived. To have refused her Mistress and/or her Master could have meant death, but the result of her offspring with Abram was a nation that has always been at war with God's preferred future. How many of us also produce unintended consequences because we do not wait on God's perfect timing.
Despite Abram's lack of patience God was faithful and the result was Isaac. From Isaac will come the 12 tribes of Egypt. Now all that remains is for Abram/Abraham to keep his side of the bargain; to walk faithfully with the God who desires to make his descendants as numerous as the sands of the sea and the stars in the skies. The result will be a mighty nation, a city on a hill, a blessing to the world. Is that not the same promise that God makes to us, that we will be blessed to be a blessing. Can we walk more faithfully than Abraham and Sarah or do we suffer from the same sense of impatience?
I have always enjoyed reading about Abraham. It is a comfort to me to see God take a mess and use that person to do his will. It gives me hope that even when I feel I am straying or have messed up on God's plan he still works through his people to accomplish his perfect plan. THere is always hope in God.
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