WHAT I LEARNED WHEN I READ THE BIBLE
“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.” (Genesis 16:1-4 NIV)
There is so much to unpack in these verses. Ten years before this time, God had promised Abram a son, yet Sarai was still barren. She was impatient, so she decided to fulfill God’s promise in her own way. Oh, the foolishness of man (and woman!) when we listen to unwise counsel instead of the Holy Spirit; when God speaks, but we cannot wait due to our childish ways. When we step in front of God and take control of our lives, devastation and destruction often follow. The actions of one impatient woman changed the course of history and has caused a lifetime of brotherly battles that continue to this day.