Getting Ahead Of God

Getting Ahead of God

Q: When Sarah became angry with Hagar, where did Hagar flee to?

• a. her own home
• b. the wilderness
• c. a new land

Sarah, also known as Sarai, didn’t think she would ever have a baby. So she decided Abraham (or Abram) should have a child with her maid, Hagar. Then Sarah and Abraham would raise him as their son. This was done a lot in early Old Testament times, but it’s not something God approved of.

When Hagar found out she was pregnant with Abraham’s child, she started to look down on Sarah. She acted as though she were better than Sarah because she could have a child and Sarah couldn’t.

Sarah became angry and was mean to Hagar. Hagar fled to the wilderness, but an angel met her there and sent her back to Sarah. Hagar returned to Abraham’s household, and she gave birth to a son named Ishmael.

Later, Isaac was born to Sarah, and Abraham held a big feast (see Genesis 21:1-13). During this celebration, Sarah saw Hagar and her son, Ishmael, making fun of Isaac. Sarah demanded that Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away. This made Abraham sad, because Ishmael was his son too. God promised Abraham he’d make a great nation from Ishmael, but Ishmael was not the child God had promised Abraham would have.

There was a lot of drama between Sarah and Hagar because of jealousy and rivalry. If Sarah had been willing to believe God and wait to have her own child, the drama could have been avoided. Sometimes we don’t wait for God to take action, but we try to do things ourselves. That never works out very well.

For You

Sometimes God wants you to go ahead and do something, but other times he may want you to wait. Pray about your plans, and God will give you peace about your actions if they are the right ones.

Answer: b

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. The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness.   Genesis 16:6-7

(The Whole Story: Genesis 16)