January 6, 2011 - Waiting on the Lord

Scripture: Genesis 16:1-2: Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;

2 so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

Observation: Despite the fact that God had specifically said that Abram would have a son (15:4-5), Sarai decided that God wasn't going to include her in that plan. She decided to come up with her own plan and make her maid a surrogate mother. After all, Sarai was past childbearing age, and they had been waiting for years for God's promise to be fulfilled through her. Sarai had waited for years to have a child in a culture that placed a woman's value in the children she produced.

Application: In the age of IPhones, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and 24-hour news, we have really come to expect to know everything immediately. If we have to wait on anything, we're usually multitasking with one of the above tools. I, like most people, have a really hard time waiting on anything. How many times have I, like Sarai, given up waiting and proceeded with my own plan? Or worse yet, decided on my own plan without even considering what God thought? Probably too many to count.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I get anxious and impatient and allow that to get me into trouble. Lord, give me wisdom and patience as I wait for you. Increase my faith and help me to know and remember that your plan is always the best plan.