Have you ever laid hold of a promise of God, but become impatient when it did not come to pass on your timing? Have you ever been so impatient that you took matters into your own hand? Yes? So have I, and we are not alone–let’s journey back in time to revisit the story of Abraham and Sarah.
Genesis 12 tells of Abram’s call by God and His promise to bless him, and make of him a great nation. At the time Abram was 75 years old. In Genesis 13, God expands His covenant with Abram promising him great lands, and to multiply his offspring beyond counting. In Genesis 15, the Lord came to Abram in a vision promising to be his shield, and again promises to multiply his offspring.
By now Abram is getting pretty impatient with God and so is Sarai (Genesis 16). God has promised to give them a son several times. Years have passed and they still have no children, so they take matters into their own hands to “help God out” by giving Hagar, Sarai’s handmaiden to Abram so he can have an heir. Through this relationship with Hagar, Abram fathered Ishmael.
When Abram was 95 years old (Genesis 17) the Lord appears to Abram yet again, restating His covenant with Abram, saying He will multiply his offspring. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah. God tells Abraham and Sarah in a year they will have a son and name him Isaac, whom God says He will bless and make into a great nation. In Genesis 18, the Lord appears to Abraham and Sarah yet again, restating His promise that in a year they will have a son. God’s promise is fulfilled in Genesis 21: Isaac is born to Abraham when Abraham is 100 years old.
Twenty-five years passed between the time that God first called Abram and promised to make him into a great nation, and when Isaac was finally born. As Abram and Sarai became impatient waiting for God to fulfill His promise, they decided to help God out by having a child with Hagar. But the child with Hagar was not the child God promised.
The lesson to take away is that when God makes a promise He will fulfill it. He does not need our “help” to make it come to pass. More often than not, when we decide to help God by taking matters into our own hands we make a mess of things. It is far better to endure with patience: “They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).