Looking For Shortcuts

Looking for Shortcuts

Sarai

Read: Genesis 16:1-6

We all love shortcuts and quick fixes. Some of these, such as curling irons, microwaves, computers, and drive-through windows, save time and make life more efficient. Others create more problems than they solve. Too many fast-food meals can wreck a balanced diet and our figures. An online quickie degree does not substitute for years of college study. Online dating services may not be the best route to finding a committed life partner. Some things just take time, and they’re worth the wait.

Sarai also looked for a shortcut. For years, God had promised that Abram would have a son and heir. Now Sarai was long past child-bearing age, and she was tired of feeling disappointed year after year. Why keep waiting for something that obviously wasn’t going to happen? So she took matters into her own hands and gave her servant to Abram. According to the custom, Hagar’s child would be regarded as Sarai’s. Perhaps this was how God intended to provide Abram’s heir.

Sarai’s idea was not part of God’s plan, and she soon regretted her rash decision. Hagar’s pregnancy created conflict between Sarai and her husband, and jealousy between Sarai and her servant. It also began a hostility that continued through the descendants of Hagar’s son and Sarai’s son, the Arab people and the Jewish nation.

God’s plan often includes something that is very difficult for us to do—waiting. As we anxiously watch months or years go by with no sign of God’s acting to fulfill his promises, we may despair. We begin to wonder if he has forgotten us, or if we have missed something. It’s tempting to intervene and “help God out.” That is always a mistake. Human efforts to fulfill divine promises only complicate matters, as Sarai learned the hard way.

I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior.

Micah 7:7 (NIV)