Waiting For God

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God promised Sarah that she would have a son, all she had to do was wait. Instead, she took matters into her own hands and had her husband, Abraham, sleep with her servant, Hagar. When Hagar conceived, she was at odds with Sarah and they felt like they were in competition with each other. Hagar had a son, Ishmael. Everyone thought that the boy was the result of God's promise, but then Sarah, at 90 years old, became pregnant. In the end, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away and Sarah's son, Isaac became Abraham's heir. (Genesis 16 - 21:21)

If Sarah had been patient, she wouldn't have had to deal with Hagar's pride in her pregnancy and the slave and her son would not have been sent away. People got hurt because Sarah refused to wait.

A better example of patience is the story of Jacob in Genesis 29:15-30. Jacob was working for his relative, Laban, and fell in love with his daughter, Rachel. Jacob worked for seven years to marry her, but all those years "seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her." (verse 20)

In Joshua 14:6-12, we learn that Caleb was promised, by God, to receive an inheritance of land. Caleb waited 45 years to receive it.

Not once did Caleb or Jacob try to take a shortcut towards their rewards. Jacob could have run away with Rachel and refused to wait seven years. Caleb could have tried to take the land he was promised by force. Just like Sarah, they would have been expressing doubt in God's word (or Laban's word in Jacob's case) and put faith in their own strength and ability.

Through these three stories, we learn that we must be patient and wait for God's perfect timing.

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
Hebrews 6:19

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
Hebrews 10:23

God knows what he's doing - he's got it all planned out. Remember that the devil can appear and look exactly like what you want. Sarah thought that Hagar was her only chance - the perfect chance - to have a baby, but that wasn't God's plan. Sarah's plan hurt those around her.

Be patient, God's in control.

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