Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Today's Passage: Genesis 16-17

The theme of this passage is somewhat of a continuation of Michael's discussion on God's covenant with Abraham (Gen. 13-15). God will never break a covenant, and yet in these verses we read of Sarah taking matters into her own hands. God had promised Abraham many descendants, and yet Sarah had borne him no children. Unfortunately Sarah seemed to think that her way of seeing God's promise fulfilled would be the best way. Initially I wonder, "What was she thinking?! God was the one who made the promise in the first place, obviously He's going to keep it!" As we all know, however, hindsight is 20/20. Knowing what God does for Abraham and his family makes it easy to think that Sarah has lost her mind and just needs to wait. When I truly put myself in her shoes, however, I begin to understand what must have been going through her mind. She probably thought she was doing the right thing, but her way was certainly not the best way and she reaped the consequences.

Now for the really cool part: God STILL kept his promise! Abram and Sarai had messed things up pretty badly and God still used them and blessed them. That is so encouraging to me! Sarah gave her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham out of a lack of faith and yet God blessed them immeasurably. This reminds me of a parent's love for a child. My parents have always loved me unconditionally and wanted what's best for me. I can't tell you how many times I disobeyed, colored on the walls, peeled the wallpaper off the walls, treated my brother badly, had a bad attitude, or threw a fit, but none of these things made my parents decide not to love me anymore. They still wanted what was best for me and they were willing to provide that even when I didn't deserve it or even appreciate it.

Today's passage both encouraged and challenged me. It encouraged me to know that God will never let me down even when I let Him down...His Word is clear on this. And it challenged me to look back at the times in my life when I was frustrated with God's timing. Hindsight has allowed me to see that, as it turns out, God really did know what was best.