Genesis 16:1-2 (NIVUK)
1 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.
So starts a fairly wretched train of events as you will be aware from Sunday’s service. The question I find myself asking is why did Sarai come up with this plan. Was it because she felt she needed to in order for God’s promise to Abram to be fulfilled of having a large family? Perhaps. My suspicion though is less her motivations were less ‘spiritual’. My suspicion is that she felt that she was in danger of being rejected by Abram for a new wife who might give him a child, and so she thought she would take preventative measures to ensure this didn’t happen by arranging this alternative. No one likes to think they are invisible or not valued. Was this likely? There is no indication that Abram was going to reject her. Sometimes our fears cloud our vision. Besides, we know that God had his hand on both of them.
Father, help us not to be controlled by our fears but by our faith, acting in light of your relationship with us, not our insecurities.
Image used with permission from www.lambsongs.co.nz
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