Solutions

Solutions

MY QUESTION for GOD

How do I find the right solutions to my problems?

A MOMENT with GOD

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. . . . So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The Lord will show who’s wrong—you or me!” Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

Genesis 16:1-6

Sarai blamed Abram for the results of her arrangement to use Hagar to gain the child that God had promised. We tend to blame others for our self-inflicted problems that often result from our own poor solutions. When you make a mistake, don’t make a bigger one by blaming someone else. This only causes a rift in the relationship. Abram didn’t want to deal with the problem when Sarai came to him to discuss it, so he simply sidestepped it. He could have stepped in and helped Hagar. Avoiding problems, particularly those you helped to create, only makes them worse, and it often hurts those who were innocently sucked in to the mess you created. Acknowledging and dealing with your mistake is embarrassing and sometimes even humiliating, but it is the only way to find a solution to the problem and restore the respect you need to continue to lead effectively.

DIVINE PROMISE

GOD BLESSES THOSE WHO WORK FOR PEACE, FOR THEY WILL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD.   Matthew 5:9