Genesis #14: The Promise - Isn't in Egypt
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Patience Test
Patience Test
Staring contest… waiting for another to blink
How patient are you?
How long will you wait before blowing the horn after a green light?
Do you pass on the shoulder when people are stopped in the road to turn left?
Do you watch the popcorn in the microwave?
Do you repeatedly turn the bacon in order to make sure both sides cook at the same rate?
When someone has to pay for their gas with a paper check… or even worse, change.
When we get impatient, we tend to rush things… we get anxious, stress starts to build… some of us even get a bit irritable. But what if instead of letting our impatience stress us, we actually slowed down.
We are going to look at a point in the lives of Abram and Sarai his wife and how they too struggled with being patient and waiting. It is my prayer that we can learn from them and become more able to see God at work when waiting gets hard.
We are in Genesis 16 as we work through our series of messages THE PROMISE. This refers to God’s promise to Abram… we studied it last week in
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—
Scripture says that because Abram believed God’s promise, it was credited to him as righteousness. Not because he acted perfectly, doing everything right, but because he believed, because he had faith. He wasn’t perfect, but he was faithful. He oriented his life around God’s promise… sometimes Abram did the right thing, sometimes he did the wrong thing, but he was faithful in that he put his trust in what God was doing.
This week Abram takes a back seat as we begin to look at his wife Sarai and how she is handling this season of waiting on God’s promise.
To date we haven’t seen her as having much of a part in God’s promise. But she's been there the whole time, living it out with Abram.
Let’s be real… after 10 years, the excitement of her finally having a child has probably worn off. 10 years ago when God shows up… Surprise… Abram and Sarai go out and buy the fireworks for their reveal party.... maybe get paint some blue and pink paint for their camel… There was a time when she couldn’t wait for the day to come… now 10 years later… it’s become a burden.
Abram comes in every afternoon and tells a barren woman… “hey honey, hows my baby maker doing?” “Take care of yourself now you might be carrying the promise”… after 10 years, she’s not sure if the child will bring excitement or relief.
You can imagine that this sort of waiting would get frustrating cant you?
Sarai: When waiting brings frustration
Sarai: When waiting brings frustration
Genesis 16:1-16
Genesis 16:1-16
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.
So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”
Sarai: When waiting brings frustration
Sarai: When waiting brings frustration
I can imagine the pressure Sarai feels to give Abram a child. I don’t know, but I can imagine that childlessness back then was most often attributed to the woman… even though medically we understand that there could be all sorts of reasons. Sarai though feels responsible… so she decides to help God
And give her servant to her husband.
Now this sounds strange to us, but actually it was part of their custom. It wouldn’t be thought of as strange in their day.
But while it may not alert their neighbors, it does remind us of something that happened just a few chapters ago.
Similar to Garden of Eden…
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Remember that… when Eve, who hadn’t been told God’s plan, tells Adam, who had heard explicitly from God, what not to do… And he eats the fruit anyway.
Abram knows to wait on God… but instead he accepts the word of his wife because this servant too is pleasing to his eyes… scripture doesn't describe her as such, but most men will agree that there certainly would be a carnal attraction for Abram.
The problem with the first sin was that of a lack of trusting God’s plan for creation. God had said you can have anything but the fruit of that one tree. But Adam and Even didn’t believe it, they believed they had a better plan.
Abram and Sarai believed they had a better plan too. Her plan was better because God’s wasn’t working.
Frustration came in as they waited on God, so they came up with a different plan, they wouldn’t say it, but they thought their plan was better than trusting God.
When we get frustrated with God, it should be a wake up call for us to test our impatience
When waiting brings frustration, test it.
When waiting brings frustration, test it.
I think as we look at Sarai we can learn some great lessons that can teach us what to look for when our waiting is leading us to frustration.
The first thing starts right in verse 1 and 2.
She had no child, so she got her servant Hagar.
She was tired of waiting. Now is the time to do something.
Sarai didn’t want to wait. That’s the first question to ask ourselves…
Am I willing to Wait?
Am I willing to Wait?
If you are able to trust God’s timing and before you know it patience is right there.
In our house, Michelle is the saver, I’m the spender
Can you wait? I tend to buy things impulsively from time to time. Not big things but small things. I was told one day to commit to waiting 3 days before buying… in 3 days, the desire goes away and usually I come up with more reasons why I don’t need it
Am I willing to Wait?
Second, we see Sarai’s heart in verse 2
“I can build a family through her.”
Question… who was responsible for building the family?
God. God had said he would make Abram’s name great… he didn’t say Sarai will make your name great. Sarai, while frustrated with God’s timing, was also frustrated because she hadn’t become what she was promised to be. She wanted to be the deliverer. In a real sense she was frustrated because her glory was delayed.
That’s the next question to ask yourself when you start to get frustrated in waiting.
Am I pursuing God’s glory or my own?
Am I pursuing God’s glory or my own?
That’s usually the source of my frustration in waiting. ME
I want it now… I want it this way… I earned it...
My problem isn’t the thing… it’s me and my heart.
Think about what makes you impatient and tell yourself a story but take your name out of it. Instead, tell it with someone else’s name in it. See if it sounds like God is the one being honored.
That’s the second test, who is being glorified?
The third patience test is to ask, yourself
Am I obeying God’s word?
Am I obeying God’s word?
Now for Sarai, it was culturally acceptable to give your husband your servant in order to bear children so he could have an heir. But what did God say?
God said a man and woman become one flesh in marriage. it is a covenant relationship that requires faithfulness. Later God would write down explicitly to not commit adultery. Was this some sort of Surrogate motherhood. No Sarai gave Hagar to be his wife it says in verse 4.
This was out of bounds with God’s design for marriage.
Now, as I think of those things that cause me to be impatient… is my having them in keeping with God’s word? Or is it only because of the world’s influence that I desire them?
God’s word should cause impatience. He said it, let’s do it… but the world’s demands on us should not lead us to impatience… in the same way, God’s promise should enable us to be patient… while our faith enables us to disregard the expectations of the world.
The last patience test is usually pretty clear.
Am I experiencing joy and peace as a result?
Am I experiencing joy and peace as a result?
Vs4 says that Hagar began to despise her mistress and Abram endorsed Sarai’s mistreatment in response.
Scripture also teaches us that the work of faith produces peace… Not to say that conflict will never arise, but when I’m waiting on God, I experience peace in knowing that what I am doing or rather what i’m not doing because of my faith in God.
If Sarai had of considered any one of these questions, history may have worked out differently… but that’s not the case because that’s how we get the questions… learning from her mistakes.
James the brother of Jesus summarized these 4 tests in his letter: You may want to write this down… James 3:16-18… sort of motivation test for you that may come in handy one day.
For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.
And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
Doesn’t sound like Sarai does it? No it doesn’t.
You see, we can learn from Sarai’s inability to wait on God’s plan.
All so that we can begin to wait more faithfully.
Because when we wait faithfully, we are led to obedience.
Waiting makes room for obedience
Waiting makes room for obedience
We don’t know what might have been… because Abram and Sarai didn’t let us find out.
Waiting on God you see isn’t intended to be “our time” but a time for continued obedience. When God doesn’t speak, we do what he last told us. God doesnt’ need our help, He’s not too busy to know what’s going on with us, He didn’t forget.
Waiting is an opportunity to trust.
Because while we don’t know what might have been if they hadn’t involved Hagar, we do know that if they had waited on God, God’s promise would have been realized in her life.
So, Sarai reminds us that our frustration in waiting can actually serve as a reminder to trust God’s promise. That if we test our impatience and it fails, we still have God.
Now let’s look at the woman on the other side of Sarai’s impatience, Hagar.
OK, so Hagar is pregnant and apparently she is rubbing it in Sarai’s face a bit.
So Sarai complains to Abram, and Abram replies...
“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”
That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Hagar: When waiting seems cruel.
Hagar: When waiting seems cruel.
Hagar wasn’t asked if she wanted to be a part of this. She was forced to take part and then when she did as told she acted out only to be mistreated… so mistreated by Sarai that she ran away. Abram didn’t even step in to protect the mother of his child.
This is the worst… Where is God in this? This doesn’t seem like God’s plan at all. Actually it wasn’t remember, this has happened because of the choices of Abram and Sarai… and now Hagar has to deal with it.
Some might even consider Sarai’s waiting for years to have a child… being promised something and not delivering… it seems cruel.
Now for us looking back we can see and read how God was at work, but for them in real time its not so easy.
Hagar was invited to help Sarai and Abram fulfil God’s promise, and now she is. It sound’s like a great story in a strange sort of way. But in reality it’s a nightmare that Hagar just wants out of.
You ever have one of those situations? Where you just want to get out of it?
I remember the first time our son told us he was running away. It was heart breaking to us… sure a little funny. Our way was just too hard… he had to leave.
Often times our season waiting that appears unjust or cruel isn’t related to a promise from God, but rather to an expectation we have for God.
We want this and we have to wait… we want that and God’s not showing up.
When lose patience with waiting for God to meet our expectations, what happens? We tend to throw a pity party. We start to feel sorry for ourselves.
God doesn’t promise an easy life, a life free from problems, difficulty, pain, sickness, heartache… he promises to be there with us no matter what comes.
Look what Hagar does.
She runs away.
She runs away and guess who finds her? God... the angel of the Lord finds her in the desert on the road to Shur. The angel asks where are you running from and where are you running to? She says I’m running from Sarai.... doesn’t even answer where to… because that wasn’t really planned… she was just running.
But what we know because we are seeing the whole story is that Shur is on the road back to Egypt. Without even thinking much about it, she was running back to what she knew. When she couldn’t wait any more… she went back to that which was familiar.
I think this happens to us all the time.
We run back to the things we know when our waiting gets too uncomfortable.
Run back to him or to her… run back to those friends… run back to unhealthy habits… run back to mom or dad… run back to work… to food… to alcohol...
Even in the church, we tend to run back to what we always knew. We said we can’t wait to get back to having services like we used to…
Instead of first making sure that where we used to be is the right place to be today.
If we have to run, let’s make sure we run in the right direction.
When waiting seems cruel, run the right direction
When waiting seems cruel, run the right direction
Hagar doesn’t, but God finds her anyway, and look at what the angel tells her. Go back to Sarai and submit to her.
Now in Hagar’s scripture says that she was being mistreated. We don’t know if this involved physical abuse, but if it did, she should get away. You should always get out of a relationship when there is physical abuse involved. Hear this, no one has the right to abuse you mentally, physically, or emotionally. Get out. Get help. Report it, don’t fall for the "I’m sorry… I’ll never do it again.” That’s fine let them convince a judge, you get help. See lawyer or judge for legal help, see a counselor for emotional help, talk to your pastor for spiritual help.
I’m believing that Hagar’s mistreatment wasn’t physical… because God sends her back. Back under the care of the man who holds God’s promise, the man who trusts God.
God says: Go back, submit to Sarai, and I will bless your descendants.
You see Hagar wasn’t in the wrong place to begin with, she was just in the wrong relationship. Instead of getting to Egypt, she needed to get to God.
I wander how many times I’ve run away from the best place I could be because I didn’t trust God.
That’s a lesson for us.
Waiting makes room for spiritual growth
Waiting makes room for spiritual growth
Not only does waiting give us an opportunity to reflect and test our impatience, but it also gives us space to grow spiritually.
There are seasons to act. But we serve an incredible God. An eternal God. A God who molded life from clay.
Now ask yourself, does he really NEED your help to do anything? No
Does he want to bring you joy by letting you be a part of what he wants to do in you and in your relationships? YES
But what’s most important, what he’s doing in you or what he’s doing through you?
IN YOU
He wants us to be fully connected to him.
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
What does God do with us then?
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”
Look at how God worked in this little love triangle when they began to trust God again.
We see that God called Hagar to go back and submit to Sarai… in order for her to do that, she would have to realize that what she needed wasn’t in Egypt. What she needed was to submit to God’s grace.
Sarai would have to receive Hagar back… realizing that God was at work in the life of her Egyptian servant girl… God saw her. Sarai had to submit to God’s plan for justice.
Hagar and Sarai were strengthened when they surrendered to God’s will.
We don’t forget the past, it’s part of what makes us who we are today. But God is doing something now and tomorrow… and we are called to him in the midst of our frustration, in the midst of our running, to surrender. What we need isn’t in Egypt.
What we need is not in Egypt.
What we need is not in Egypt.
I use Egypt as a description of the place we tend to run for a solution to our problems… For Sarai, it was a girl from Egypt, and for Hagar, it was the safety of Egypt.
For us, we have an idea of what we believe God wants to do in our lives. For many of us we want to see that as well.
We want to be more grace filled.
We want to be filled with his power.
We long to know joy that doesn’t depend on our circumstances.
We desire a career that has significance, not just a job.
We want our lives in retirement to count for something.
We want our marriages to be a place to rest, not a place to be on guard.
Where do we go to find these things? Egypt?
Sounds silly to say, but often times we do… even in the church.
We meet to come up with plans for worship, for small groups, for ministry in our community. We talk to develop plans, when God has given a plan for the church… make disciples. A church that struggles financially isn’t making disciples, a church that struggles to leaders isn’t making disciples, a church that doesn’t isn’t involved in ministering to their community isn’t making disciples, a church that isn’t baptizing new Christians isn’t making disciples. A church that doesn’t have new visitors in worship isn’t making disciples. Our job as Christians is to make disciples… not to figure out a new plan… that is God’s plan.
And in life as well as in church… instead of running to other plans we should run to Jesus.
Run to Jesus when you can’t see God at work.
Run to Jesus when you can’t see God at work.
God loves to save.
He is our only hope.
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
God loves to save us from our sin.
He is our promise
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God loves to save us from ourselves.
He has everything we need
Run to Jesus when you can’t see God at work.
Run to Jesus when you can’t see God at work.
Oh man I’ve messed up…
Be Obedient Chapter Five: Beware of Detours! (Genesis 16)
“The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”