Wait For God's Timing71 [Gen 16:1-6] / Anne's Faith Column

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Wait For God's Timing71

[Gen 16:1-6]

/ Anne's Faith Column 

 

 

/  By Priscilla

 

 

 

"Now Sarai, Abram's wife,

had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian

maidservant named Hagar;

 

 

 

so she said to Abram,

"The LORD has kept me

from having children.

 

 

 

Go, sleep with my maidservant;

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

maidservant 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 servant in your arms,

and now that she knows

she is pregnant, she

despises me.

 

 

 

May the LORD judge

between you and me."

 

 

 

"Your servant is in

your hands,"

 

 

 

Abram said.

 

 

 

"Do with her whatever

you think best."

 

 

 

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar;

so she fled from her."

(Gen 16:1-6)

 

 

 

Abram's wife, Sarai,

found out that she could

not have children.

 

 

 

So she tried to persuade

her husband in a human way

to have children through he

r maidservant Hagar.

 

 

 

However, after things had 

come about as she wished,

she regretted seeing the

resulting problems

 

 

 

and changing attitude of 

the maidservant Hagar.

 

 

 

It is already recorded

in the Scriptures that

God's method is different

from mine, but in fact,

 

 

it is quite a difficult task

to wait for God's timing

without knowing it at all,

 

 

and it requires

considerable patience.

 

 

 

 

Even the act of doing

God's will at our own will,

and repenting with our

  hands raising up to God

 

 

 

because we can't afford

it is an attitude that we,

children of God, should

never do.

 

 

 

But, why did Abram,

who had great faith,

accept his wife's offer

like Adam did?

 

 

 

Why did he accept his

wife's offer, even though

he had directly received

the promise of blessings

from God

 

 

 

that God would

 make his descendants

as numerous as the stars

in the sky and as the sand 

on the seashore?

 

 

 

Although Abram lived with 

a dream God had given

 him, as the years passed, 

that dream faded away

and disappeared,

 

 

 

and his heart was filled

with doubts, which eventually

led him to distrust the promises

God had given him.

 

 

 

He considered it impossible

to obtain children in a human way,

so he easily accepted his wife's

offer without any hesitation.

 

 

 

Sometimes, like Abram,

we too easily forget

the word of promise

 

 

 

we received from God

and become impatient,

so we keep fretting instead

  of continuing to pray to God.

 

 

 

Also, we doubt that

answers from God

will come to us

 

 

 

and  we no longer wait,

and finally give up praying

easily on our own.

 

 

 

But when we stay patient,

trusting and listening to

the word of God,

 

 

 

God definitely gives wisdom

to each of us and works  

through people around

and our circumstances.

 

 

 

God's will and purpose

is sure to be fulfilled

when the season is

fulfilled.

 

 

 

When God's timing

(Kairos) comes,

 

 

 

no one will close or open 

the gates of heaven

except Almighty God.

 

 

 

If God does not work,

everything is in vain

 

 

 

and we must know that

in the end the outcome

of everything depends

on God's sovereignty.

 

 

 

Therefore, as the

Scriptures says,

 

 

 

we can become the wisest

if we patiently persevere,

trust in God, and wait quietly

for God's timing.

 

 

 

"There is a time for everything,

and a season for every

activity under heaven.."

(Eccl 3:1-8)

 

 

 

Therefore, let's not insist 

on our will in everything,

but let God's will do

everything for us.

 

 

 

Let's wait patiently for

God's timing to the end.

 

 

 

Prayer

 

 

 

Lord!

 

 

 

Give me the faith to wait

patiently for God's timing. 

 

 

 

 

Amen

 

 

 

2010/04/05

 

 

/  By Priscilla