Trying To Help God

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

This story starts as a promising, hope-filled journey of Abram and Sarai being promised a son by God. However, things take an unexpected and sad turn when Sarai decides to take things into her own hands when it seems like God is doing nothing to fulfill His promise. Sound familiar?

The Lord made it very clear that Abram and Sarai would have a son. But the timing of that promise didn’t make any sense to the elderly couple. Not to mention, they had been waiting for quite some time to have a child. The more time that passed, the less likely it seemed that Sarai would ever have a baby of her own. 

That’s when she decided to offer Hagar to her husband so that he could have a son, even if it wasn’t with her. If only Sarai had known the consequences of her decision to take matters into her own hands instead of waiting on God to fulfill His promises. 

The Lord is fully capable of carrying out His will and His plans for us without our help. He knows exactly what it’s going to take to give you His best and to bring Himself the most glory. We get into trouble when we think we know better than God and when we think our plans and our timing are better than His. 

Why is that we think we need to help God? Is it because we think we know best? Is it because we’re worried that what He has for us won’t be exactly what we want? When we try to step in and take control over our circumstances instead of surrendering them to the Lord, we are letting our pride, our fear, and our impatience get in the way of receiving God’s best for us.

So let’s be careful not to make the same mistake Sarai did. Let’s not get ahead of God and try to make our plans, our dreams, and our desires happen on our own. You never know what kind of consequences might come about because you tried to trump God’s authority. Instead, trust His the way He’s working in your life. The Lord came through for Sarai in a way she never imagined were possible, and He can do the same for you.