Gtcotr/ss051825
There is an account in the Bible which occurred about 2000 years before Christ. That means it was around 4000 years ago when this story took place. That was a long time ago, but it goes to show that God has been working His plan for a long, long time.
God is very committed to the things He wants to accomplish. If God wants something to happen, it will happen. The only question is who will He use?
Ezekiel 22:30 “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”
If you remember the counsel given to Queen Esther (Esther 4:14): “If you hold your peace at this time, enlargement and deliverance for the Jews shall arise from another place but you and your family will perish. And who knows, perhaps this is the very reason why you have been put in the position you hold.”
As well, it pays to remember God encouraged the generation of the Children of Israel who came out of Egypt to go into the Promise Land. However, when they would not … when they refused … he covered them and took care of them but allowed them to waste away in the wilderness. Then He encouraged the next generation to trust Him and when they did, God blessed them and took them into the Promise Land.
You may not be the first person God has asked to do what He will ask you to do … His hope is that you will be the last one He has to ask.
Now, back to our story. The particular account we are going to read this morning happened in the lives of Abram and his wife, Sarai, and an Egyptian servant girl who worked for Sarai named Hagar. The story reads better than it tells. With this in mind, let’s turn to the 16th chapter of the book of Genesis.
Genesis 16 NKJV
1 ¶ Now Sarai, Abram’s wife,
had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose
name was Hagar.
2 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.
3 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.
4 ¶ So he went in to Hagar,
and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became
despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram,
“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she
saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge
between you and me.”
6 So Abram said to Sarai,
“Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when
Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 ¶ Now the Angel of the LORD
found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to
Shur.
8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s
maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am
fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the LORD said
to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
10 ¶ Then the Angel of the
LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they
shall not be counted for multitude.”
11 And the Angel of the LORD
said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You
shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him.
And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name
of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I
also here seen Him who sees me?”
14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
God has both hidden and revealed points of wisdom in each account we read in the Old Testament. Becoming familiar with the stories will teach us what to do as we walk through life. We all need to embrace principles before we encounter problems. Some truths we’ve seen today are:
1. Sarai caused the problem and then blamed Abram for the outcome.
This kind of thinking is human nature but it doesn’t make it right. Reading the account makes it sound almost funny … (v.5 “My wrong be upon you!”) … I can promise you, it wasn’t funny to Abram or to Hagar or Ishmael. Their lives were torn up and torn apart by Sarai’s suggestions and her insistence and yet Sarai wouldn’t take responsibility for her decisions.
If Sarai had taken responsibility, it might have provided the perspective and the compassion needed at that moment to have brought about a better outcome. The whole Middle East is still divided today because of Sarai’s jealousies and Hagar’s disrespect.
Hagar was no doubt wrong but she could take only so much.
2. Just because you can does not mean you should.
God will let you know if He needs you to take charge and do things your way. Until then … let Him work out the details.
3.
There is a difference between leaving somewhere and going somewhere.
Leaving is seldom solid direction.
4. God has a plan; He will succeed; We have a chance to participate.
Even if a person disobeys God, God will still succeed although the person may not. God wanted to bless both Queen Esther and the servant girl Hagar but only one of them obeyed Him. God’s was committed to keeping His promise to Abram. Abram would become the father of many nations … but Hagar missed out on the life she could have had, filled with comfort and blessings.
Think
of all of the benefits and blessings people have denied themselves by failing
to trust and obey God. We can’t afford to just half-heartedly follow God’s
directions for life. God has instructed us to:
·
Love
and forgive
·
Be
kind and caring
·
Give,
be generous, benevolent and trustworthy
·
Live
in peace and speak evil of no man
·
Go
to work and go to Church
·
Spend
time with your family, and
· Tell others about Jesus.
5. God sees you!
He knows exactly where you are and what you need to do.
God sees you and He has a beautiful plan for your life if you will only trust and obey.
Genesis 16:14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Beer Lahai Roi - “The well of the Living One who sees me”
This morning I want to challenge you to see the God who sees you. See Him as a kind and caring God who has a plan that includes what is best for you. Anything other than God’s will for your life is at best, second best.
Don’t cheat yourself, your family or your future. Wait on God and do it like God wants it done and you will be a part of His glorious success in this life.
Remember – Trust and Obey!
