Faith — The Shortcut - Wednesday
TODAY’S VERSE
Genesis 16:4-6
And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 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!” 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. (ESV)
If you remember, the beginning of this whole Genesis 16 story begins with the sin of Sarai. She takes the matter of fulfilling God’s promises into her own hands and waits in disobedience. I recently heard a friend say while preaching, “God’s patience doesn’t always equal God’s permission.” If only Sarai attended my friend's church…
God was patient, Sarai was not, and it got ugly quick. But as we see in the verses above, she wasn’t the only one with some responsibility in the situation they found themselves in. As it turned out, they all had sin “crouching at the door” (Genesis 4:17). So do we.
So I simply want to highlight three sins of this text and their warning signs.
Hagar’s pride. The moment Hagar received the gift of a child, she thought she was something special, and she made Sarai feel it. Here’s the temptation we all face: to find our value in what we’ve been given, NOT in who we’ve been given (and then to compare ourselves to everyone else’s blessings). May we not lose sight of the reality that everything we have has been given to us by God’s grace, not our merit.
Sarai’s blame. Sarai made her decision, and the moment it came back to bite her, she pointed the finger. We, too, are tempted to spread blame for the wreckage of our own mistakes out of shame and insecurity, but it only prolongs the healing process. May we not lose sight of the clear invitation to take ownership of our mistakes and pursue reconciliation.
Abram’s passivity. For whatever reason (fear, insecurity, doubt, laziness, apathy, etc.), Abram decided not to intervene and shield Sarai from bringing pain upon their family. Instead, he decided to play the role of passive participant. We face this crossroads every day of our lives. Stand for truth OR sit back and watch lies ruin the lives of those we love most. James 4:17 famously reads, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” May we not sin in our inactivity.
APPLICATION
Take some time to pray and reflect over these three sins. Ask God to bring to your attention where He is inviting you to step into greater faith and trust.
PRAYER
Father, forgive us of our pride, blame, and passivity. Help us to walk in the way everlasting in the big and small moments of today.