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. --Genesis 16:1-2
To My Sweet Daughters,
Sarai, knew what God had promised but instead of looking at the situation with the eyes of faith she looked at it through the eyes of her flesh and saw the impossibility of her circumstances. She was old...childless...Abram was old. Without praying she took matters into her own hands, resorted to the customs of the day, and asked Abram to take her maidservant Hagar as his wife and have a child with her. That...Sarai decided...would be how God would provide them with an heir and keep His promise.
It is never good when we take things in our own hands...when we don't ask the counsel of the Lord...when we act in our flesh to try to help God out. Be still and know that He is God. That word "still" there means literally "hands off." I like that. We forget how powerful and mighty our God is and, pathetically, think we can help him. We often wind up making things worse and missing out on the blessings that would have occurred had we waited. Instead, we find that we now not only have to wait, but we have to deal with the consequences of our impatience and lack of faith. SIGH.
Much of faith is waiting and submitting to God's timing. It is depending on God to provide the way. When God works in our lives, He wants the glory. He doesn't want us to be able to look at the situation and think...wow, look what I did. He WANTS us to come to the end of ourselves...to the end of thinking we can do anything. Hopeless and weak is a very good place to be...faith cries out then, God's grace comes down like rain and miracles occur. There is nothing too hard for the Lord.
Do you know what I have found in the waiting...that the reward is the Lord Himself. The more I am tried, the more I look to Him...the more I look to Him, the less I look to the world and my circumstances. The more I look to Him, the more I see who He is and stand in awe. The more I look to Him, the more I want to live for Him. The world fades and His goodness and glory shines. Truly, girls, He is not only the rewarder but is the Reward of those who diligently seek Him. He will give you treasures in the dark places and hidden riches of secret places. He will go before you and make your crooked places straight. Even the night in His presence will be light about you. When we realize, as Abram did, that the Lord is our shield and our exceedingly great reward, we are in a very good place indeed...no matter how it looks from the world's perspective. Looking to Him, we have everything we need. Go out with joy...the Lord Himself is with you and goes before you!
Love
Mom
