A Problem and a Plan

Brooke McCollum

Central Truth

God knows waiting can lead to weariness and the temptation to believe we have the power, the right, or even the obligation to change our circumstances. But He promises to renew the strength of those who wait on Him.

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 children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Sarai and Hagar

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 children^{1

16:2
Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children} 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

16:4
Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5} 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

16:11
Ishmael means God hears}
    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

16:13
Or You are a God who sees me} for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”^{5

16:13
Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me?} 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;^{6

16:14
Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me} 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 Hebrew be built up, which sounds like the Hebrew for children
[2] 16:4 Hebrew her mistress was dishonorable in her eyes; similarly in verse 5
[3] 16:11 Ishmael means God hears
[4] 16:13 Or You are a God who sees me
[5] 16:13 Hebrew Have I really seen him here who sees me? or Would I have looked here for the one who sees me?
[6] 16:14 Beer-lahai-roi means the well of the Living One who sees me

Despite the advanced age of Abram and his wife, God promised him a child and heir (Genesis 15:4). Abram believed the Lord, but was not told when this promise would be fulfilled. While Sarai and he waited, they had the opportunity to ponder the same question each of us has likely asked: Is God faithful and powerful enough to provide what He promises? Or simply put, is He good, and will I trust Him?

The Lord has used a 10-year journey with infertility to cause me to wrestle with the same questions Abram and Sarai faced. When I cannot loosen my grip on my own ideas about what God’s blessing should look like in my life, bitterness, jealousy, and despair tempt me. When I focus on my completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:10), He is the sole satisfaction of my desires (Psalm 73:25-26), and I am free to love others well (Galatians 5:13).

Sarai relied upon her own resourcefulness because she could not imagine that God could fulfill His promise otherwise. Cultural norms of the day allowed for a wife to give her maid to her husband in the hopes that their union would produce a child to claim as her own. Her wrong belief—that the ends justified the means—drove her to sin, violating the unity of marriage God instituted in Genesis 2:24. Contrast this way of thinking with Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God . . . .” We don’t have to make guesses about how to please God on our own because He gives us His Word against which to measure our desires and plans.

Abram agreed to the plan, and Hagar and he conceived a child. Sarai’s plan resulted in her desired outcome, but with unintended consequences: a conflict between all parties involved and Hagar fleeing to Egypt with what Abram and Sarai believed to be their promised child. But praise God that His purposes cannot be thwarted—not by the sin of others or our own (Job 42:2)!

1. The drama of Genesis 16 reminds us that there is a way that seems right to us but leads to death (Proverbs 16:25). Women, are you ever tempted to use emotional manipulation to persuade others to get on board with your plan? Men, are you ever tempted to go along to get along? How do each of these approaches lead us into sin rather than obedience to Christ?

2. God's promise to Abram of land, seed, and blessing was specific (Genesis 12:1-3). It is important for us to know what promises God makes to all believers in His Word so that our hope is correctly placed in those promises, not in our own desired outcomes. The Equipped Disciple ministry was a game changer for me in terms of knowing and believing His assurances to me in the Bible. What is the next step you could take to grow in meditating on and memorizing God's Word? If you don't have a personal relationship with our promise-keeping God, John 5:24 explains how we can have the assurance of salvation in Christ alone.

3. Take time to adore God for being the One who sees (Genesis 16:13). Hagar recognized that God had a plan to care for her in the midst of her difficult circumstances. How would it encourage you to remember that God sees even the smallest acts of faithfulness and patterns of thought that honor Him even if no one else in the world does? See Hebrews 6:10-12. Do you know anyone who could use a reminder of this aspect of God's character today?