Not So Helpful

Genesis 16

With the passing of time the promise of offspring for Abraham and Sarah must seem to get farther away, not closer. So there is this plan. It was a way to help the Lord along with his promise. It involved an accepted practice, in which the slave of a woman could be ‘given’ to the husband for the purpose of an heir. An ensuing child was considered the child of the couple. We could make what we like of the morality of all this but it’s not the point here. The plan doesn’t work so neatly, however, because Hagar, the slave drawn into this, develops her own feelings about this situation and begins to “despise her mistress” (verse 4). Abraham doesn’t help much when he basically says to Sarah that Hagar is her problem. So Sarah subjects Hagar to some sort of abuse and Hagar heads out into the desert.

An angel confronts Hagar, telling her to go back to Sarah as her mistress. She will bear a son – Ishmael (‘God hears’) - because God has heard her cry. The character of the son will reflect the situation out of which he has come: unruly and confrontational.

Two things stand out about all this for me. One is that things get complicated when we don’t trust what God says – Sarah and Abraham thought God’s plan needed a little help. The other is that the character of God is such that he looks after the people affected by the disobedience of the faithful. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to care about such victims because God will look after them. No, it’s just the opposite. God took notice of Hagar, and so are we to take special care of the inevitable victims when there is a lack or betrayal of trust.

Prayer:
God, will I trust in what your promise and direction when circumstances seem to indicate you have forgotten, don’t care, or are just taking too long for my liking? Let me keep to simple plans of your making. You have already shown how I can ‘help’ – by repenting and believing the good news that your Kingdom is at hand. In Christ. Amen.