The Do-It-Yourself Disaster

Yeah, I really love what Jay shared, especially at the end there of, hey, we're all Christian something.

! As Jay was sharing about how Christian surfers started, it actually reminded me a lot about what Aaron shared about Young Life, or the history of Young Life, where the founder just saw kids across the street outside the church and wanted to go where the kids were.

So I think that's an encouragement for us. Not all of us are surfers, but we all have hobbies, we all have communities, and the question for us is, hey, where has God placed us?

And can we see the loss? Can we see that the harvest is plentiful and be one of those harvesters, one of the workers, and pray for God to send out more laborers into the field?

So yeah, where has God placed you? Let's go and make disciples there.

Okay? But yeah, speaking of Aaron, he's not just the director of Young Life. I learned recently that Aaron also is a coach for a personality test.

So Jojo got me a personality test for my birthday one year, and recently Aaron and I just sat down and went through that personality test.

And I'm generally not a fan of personality test, but I found actually this one was quite helpful, very insightful, so thanks Aaron for that.

There's some things that I found surprising and made me think, but there's some things that were really, that I already knew about myself, that were really obvious.

And one of those things is that I really like to do things, I like to take action.

I like to problem solve and find solutions.

I'm an engineer by training, I'm an engineer by heart, and I really like working on a DIY do-it-yourself project.

I really like those.

Like finding a scrappy, creative way to get something done.

I see a problem, I want to solve it.

So for example, you know, it's hot recently, we got a few new AC units,

and those, the exhaust vents, it wouldn't really fit in the window.

That was my DIY project.

I just cut out some cardboard, the cardboard box that the AC came in, and that's our exhaust vent.

So you'll see there's some cardboard around the corner there.

There's something satisfying about just doing it yourself.

And I can even appreciate Darren, he has like a 3D printer, and our, the lamp's upstairs on the 14th floor.

One time the bulb, like the lamp shape broke, and he just printed it out, and you couldn't even tell.

So I really like a good DIY project.

I can appreciate just getting it done.

And yeah, there's nothing bad about doing the work.

We read in Genesis 1-2 that work is a good thing created by God.

It is designed by God.

But it's a problem when we take the same do-it-yourself mindset, fix-it-myself mindset,

and apply it to taking hold of the promises of God.

When we listen, when we hear the promises of God,

and we have this mindset of, I'm going to do it myself.

I'm going to seize it for myself.

I'm going to take action and realize it, make the promises of God happen for myself.

To stress and scheme and strive by our own strength without fixing our eyes on God.

So last week, we read Genesis 15, where God made a covenant with Abram,

promised him that he would have his own son, born from his own flesh.

And we read that Abram had faith.

Abram believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

We also read last week that Abram had questions in his waiting.

He had anxieties, doubts, gaps between his faith and how he feels in his circumstances.

And we read last week that the good news of our salvation is that it depends not on the strength of our faith,

but simply on the strength of the one who we put our faith in.

The strength of Christ.

His power to save us.

His blood.

That's what we read last week.

And now today, in Genesis 16, we see a bit more clearly these gaps in Abram's faith.

Because some time has passed since God's promise, since God made his covenant with Abram.

We don't know exactly how long.

Maybe several years has passed.

But now, Abram and his wife Sarai are getting a bit tired of waiting.

They have God's promises, but they're getting tired of waiting.

They begin to waver.

They look at Sarah's barrenness, that they have no child, and decide that it's time to take matters into their own hands,

to do it themselves, to DIY it, and realize God's promise by their own strength.

And this is what we'll see today.

That God doesn't need our striving to fulfill his promises.

He doesn't need us stressing out and scheming for him to keep his word.

And there's nothing about taking action and working with God in faith.

But when we anxiously try to do it ourselves, to take shortcuts in God's plan, seize God's promises on our own,

then we find it always leads to disaster.

And so we're going to read Genesis 16 together.

Let's please stand as we read the word of the Lord together from Genesis chapter 16.

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children.

She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.

And Sarai said to Abram,

Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.

Go into my servant.

It may be that I shall obtain children by her.

And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,

Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife.

And he went into Hagar, and she conceived.

And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

And Sarai said to Abram,

May the wrong done to me be on you.

I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived,

she looked on me with contempt.

May the Lord judge between you and me.

But Abram said to Sarai,

Behold, your servant is in your power.

Do to her as you please.

Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

The angel of the Lord found her by spring of water in the wilderness,

the spring on the way to Shur.

And he said,

Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?

She said,

I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.

The angel of the Lord said to her,

Return to your mistress and submit to her.

The angel of the Lord also said to her,

I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.

And the angel of the Lord said to her,

Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him.

And he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her.

You are a God of seeing.

For she said,

Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.

Therefore the well was called Bir Lahai Roy.

It lies between Kadesh and Barad.

And Hagar bore Abram a son.

And Abram called the name of his son,

whom Hagar bore Ishmael.

And Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

This is the word of the Lord.

Please take a seat.

And so again, in the previous chapter,

the Lord promised Abram a child,

more descendants than he could count,

like counting the stars in the sky.

That's what God said.

If you can count the stars in the sky,

so shall your offspring be.

And we were reminded last week of the certainty

of the promises of God.

But here in verse one,

we snap back to reality,

or at least we snap back to our circumstances,

what we see about our reality.

Abram is promised a child,

but verse one reminds us here.

Now Sarai, Abram's wife,

had borne him no children.

On one hand, we have that promise,

but on the other hand, still no children.

Some time has passed since that promise,

but they're still waiting.

And who here loves to wait?

Who here likes waiting in line?

Who likes,

who hopes for their Taobao order

to come two weeks late?

Or who wants that dopamine hit six months later?

Waiting is not a new problem.

Abram had to wait.

But I think more and more recently,

we crave this instant gratification,

what we want to come now.

I feel that myself.

Every time I order something,

I'm always refreshing,

waiting for when I can ship the consolidation

from the warehouse.

And yeah,

tech companies are targeting our attention spans,

short foreign content,

to get us to keep scrolling endlessly.

It's getting harder and harder to wait.

But waiting is not a new problem.

And in the waiting and the delay,

that's when we're tempted often

to do it ourselves

and take control of the situation.

This is how Abram and Sarai felt.

They've been waiting for years,

heartbroken for years.

In verse one,

and Sarai said to Abram,

behold now,

the Lord has prevented me

from bearing children.

That's how Sarai felt in the wait.

Notice what Sarai says.

She doesn't say,

the Lord hasn't yet given me a child.

She says,

he prevented me from having a child.

And Sarai's not only stating

this theological truth about God's sovereignty,

that God is in control

and he hasn't given me a child.

She's in a way also filing a complaint

against the Lord,

against God's providence,

saying you promised us a son,

but where is he?

It's been years

and I don't see anything.

The Lord has prevented me

from having a child.

And I find that quite relatable

when there's something that I want,

that I've prayed for,

but God doesn't answer immediately

or in the timeline that I want

and I need to wait.

Or he says no to that.

It can lead to confusion

or disillusionment.

God, what are you doing

in this situation?

Or even bitterness.

God, why are you doing this to me?

And that's perhaps

what Abram and Sarai felt.

They're losing hope

in God's providence.

And they saw the wait,

they saw this delay

and they were tempted

to take action

and do something for themselves.

And this is what they're tempted to do.

Sarai had a female Egyptian servant

whose name was Hagar.

And verse two,

and Sarai said to Abram,

behold now,

the Lord has prevented me

from bearing children.

Go into my servant.

It may be that I shall obtain

children by her.

And Abram listened

to the voice of Sarai.

So after Abram had lived

ten years in the land of Canaan,

Sarai, Abram's wife,

took Hagar the Egyptian,

her servant,

and gave her to Abram,

her husband, as wife.

Okay.

Pause here.

Did you guys hear what she said?

Because I think this plan

is just insane to me.

It sounds crazy to me.

Because this is what

Sarai schemes up.

She says this.

She says,

Hi Abram,

my husband.

You know,

I can't have kids.

I'm 75 years old.

But I have this

young domestic helper,

Hagar.

She's younger,

more fertile.

So how about this tonight?

You take,

I'll take the couch,

I'll sleep on the couch,

you take her to bed,

you two do your thing.

And not just tonight,

but you can actually

take her as

your second wife.

And this is how

we'll have a child.

This is Sarai's plan

to have a child.

And to all the ladies

in the room,

for all the wives,

imagine saying that.

Imagine saying that

to your husband.

Imagine

the jealousy,

the competition

that would bring,

the heartbreak,

the brokenness,

the desperation.

Imagine saying that.

It sounds crazy to us.

It feels crazy.

We only,

we can,

we can know,

we know that this

will lead to trouble.

But,

to them,

in their culture,

in their time,

this was actually

a totally accepted custom.

In Abram's time,

this was actually

standard procedure

in a marriage.

Children are important

to us now.

Having children

are important.

And it can be heartbreaking.

Now,

waiting for a child,

wanting a child,

not getting a child.

That can be heartbreaking.

But in their time,

they value children

even more.

Having children

was absolutely essential.

More than anything,

their culture valued

continuing the family line.

That was also

a way of survival.

Having children

to carry on your name

was a non-negotiable.

And it was actually

the responsibility

for the wife

in a marriage

to bear children

for the husband.

And so much so

that what Sarai

is proposing

was actually

written

in some marriage contracts.

We have an example

of that in Mesopotamia

saying that

in one marriage contract

that if the wife

is able to bear children,

then the husband

is not allowed

to take another wife

if the wife

can bear children.

But

if the wife

fails to bear children,

she cannot bear children,

then in the marriage contract

it says

the husband

is allowed

to take another slave girl

like Hagar

as a concubine

as a second wife

and then that slave's children

will be considered

the first wife's children.

That was the custom

of the time.

That was the agreement

written in the marriage contract

in their culture.

So actually

Sarah's proposal

is crazy to us

but would be

commonplace

in their culture

for Abram

to take Hagar

to have children

and bear children

for both Abram

and Sarai.

And so

their do-it-yourself scheme

would have surprised

no one in their culture.

And that makes me think

for us

what do we find

acceptable

in our culture

that is actually

revolting,

disturbing

in the eyes of God?

What are some things

that are commonplace

to us

that we don't even

bat an eye at

but God knows

will surely kill us

that will lead

to destruction?

The problem

isn't as much

that Abram

and Sarai

took action here

but also

that they took action

contrary,

opposed to what

God has revealed.

They were following

the course of this world,

Ephesians 2,

following the prince

of the power of the air.

They're following,

carrying out

the passions of the flesh,

carrying out

the desires of the body

and the mind

by nature,

children of wrath

like the rest of mankind.

They were following

the culture,

following what the rest

of the world was doing.

Have we?

Because we're swimming

in our culture.

Are we following

the course of this world?

Are we looking

to our culture's way,

this world's way,

rather than God's way?

Our way,

not God's way.

Are we tempted,

maybe,

to compromise

our integrity

because everyone

around us

says half-truths?

Everyone cheats

on their exams.

Everyone exaggerates

on their CVs.

We're not lying.

I'm just embellishing

the truth.

That's what people

do in sales.

Everyone does it.

It's commonplace.

Or like Abram,

are we tempted

to compromise

on God's design

for marriage

and sexuality?

I've waited for so long.

I've tried following Jesus,

but the clock is ticking.

I'm going to date my way.

I'm going to build

my family my way.

Everyone sees sex this way.

Everyone sees marriage

this way.

So what right do we have

to say otherwise?

In Abram's culture,

this was totally accepted,

expected even

for him to take Hagar.

But Jesus says,

have you not read

that he who created

them made them male

and female and said,

therefore a man

shall leave his father

and mother and hold fast

to his wife,

and the two shall become

one flesh.

So we know what Abram

and Sarai did

is against God's design.

And we see this

in even how this chapter

is written.

Because in these verses

we see echoes

of Genesis 3.

It's echoing

the fall of man again.

They're falling again here.

Remember,

Eve in Genesis 3

saw that the fruit

was good to eat.

Sarai saw that

she was barren.

Eve took the fruit

and gave it to Abram,

her husband.

Here in verse 3,

Sarai took Hagar

and gave her to Abram.

Genesis 3.17,

God accused Adam,

you have listened

to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree.

And here in verse 2,

Abram listened

to the voice of Sarai.

There's echoes

of Genesis 3.

That they are

transgressing,

disobeying God's word.

Abram and Sarai,

they had the promises

of God,

but they looked

at the weight,

they saw the delay,

and they took the bait.

They did it their own way.

And here's the problem

with doing it our own way.

Taking shortcuts

through God's plans

always leads to disaster,

always leaves

a bigger mess.

It doesn't end well

when we ignore

the designers,

the creators' instructions,

and use our own wisdom

doing it our way.

I learned this

the hard way

one time in university.

My roommates and I,

we had a dishwasher.

We don't have dishwashers

in Hong Kong,

but you guys know

what dishwashers are?

We loaded up

the dishwasher,

but then we realized

that we didn't have

any dishwasher soap.

We realized

we didn't have

any dishwasher soap.

So we could go

to the store,

walk to the store,

and buy some,

but it was like

a 10-minute walk away,

20-minute walk,

I don't know.

Then I thought,

we have regular dish soap,

the one you use

with the sponge.

So why don't I just

take this pump bottle

from beside the sink,

squeeze it into

the dishwasher?

What's the big deal?

Soap is soap.

Soap is soap, right?

It's just soap.

And the big deal is,

we turned it on for a bit,

and you would not believe

how many bubbles came out.

It was some turbocharged

bubble scene.

If you guys have

a dishwasher at home,

try it once for fun,

but it's so many bubbles.

I can't explain

how many bubbles there are.

There's bubbles everywhere,

foam everywhere.

It's all a mess.

And it turns out

that dishwashers

are designed,

they are created

to use dishwasher soap

for a reason.

When we neglect the design,

when we think we know better,

we substitute our own way.

the result is bubbles,

lots of bubbles.

And so it is with Abram here.

And because the disaster

also doesn't even begin

in this chapter.

Remember,

in Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

or here,

the passage emphasizes

Hagar was an Egyptian, right?

In verse 1,

we see,

it says that Sarai had

a female Egyptian servant

whose name was Hagar.

And in verse 3,

Sarai,

Abram's wife,

took Hagar,

the Egyptian,

her servant,

and gave her to Abram,

her husband,

as a wife.

And remember,

when did we hear about Egypt?

It was all the way back

in chapter 12,

when Abram and Sarai,

they decided to do it themselves

and take a detour to Egypt,

out of the promised land

to Egypt.

And remember,

they planned and schemed

that Abram would sell out

his wife, Sarai,

to Pharaoh.

Sarai would just tell Pharaoh,

I'm just his sister,

so that Pharaoh wouldn't kill Abram.

But God,

and that didn't work out,

of course,

but God redeemed the situation,

and Abram and Sarai,

they left Egypt

with many possessions.

Where do you think

they got an Egyptian servant?

Where do you think they,

when do you think Hagar

came along for the ride here?

Probably back in Genesis 12.

When their plans

to do it themselves,

do it their way,

one spiritual shortcut

leads to the next.

One thing led to another.

And so in verse 4 here,

Abram went into Hagar

and she conceived.

And when she saw

that she had conceived,

she looked with contempt

on her mistress.

To no one's surprise,

when you tell your husband

to marry another woman,

it will lead to jealousy

and comparison,

contempt and bitterness.

And that's because,

again,

God has a design for marriage,

a good purpose for marriage.

One man,

one woman for life.

And it never ends well

in the Bible

when people take

multiple wives.

This always leads

to conflict.

But Abram did it.

And Hagar looked

with contempt

on Sarai.

She looked down

upon Sarai.

Hagar antagonized Sarai.

It was Sarai's duty

and responsibility.

This was their culture.

Sarai had responsibility

to bear children

for Abram.

But she failed.

And now this pretty young thing

who was Sarai's servant.

Sheik is able

to give to Abram

what Sarai never could.

Imagine the jealousy

Sarai must have felt.

How it strikes

to her identity,

her self-worth

as a woman.

And especially so

if Hagar

is egging her on,

is rubbing it

in her face.

And so,

the result is that

Sarai lashes out

first at Abram

in verse 5.

May the wrong done

to me be on you.

I gave my servant

to your embrace,

but when she saw

that she had conceived,

she looked on me

with contempt.

May the Lord judge

between you and me.

Look at Sarai.

Sarai's shifting

the blame here.

Like in Genesis 3.

Eve shifts the blame.

The servant deceived me.

I ate.

Adam blames God.

The woman you gave to me.

She gave me the fruit

and I ate.

And here Sarai says,

I gave you Hagar.

This was my idea,

but this is your fault,

Abram.

Sarai's shifting the blame.

And Abram responds

in verse 6.

Behold,

your servant

is in your power.

Do to her

as you please.

Once again here,

Abram is passive.

He fails

in his responsibility

to lead Sarai

just like Adam

failed with Eve.

Remember here,

Hagar is his wife.

It says that

Sarai gave to Abram

her husband

as a wife.

Sarai gave Hagar

to Abram

as a wife.

Hagar is his wife

and not just his wife,

but his pregnant wife.

Carrying the child

that Abram

had been longing for

and waiting for.

But look how he refers

to Hagar.

He calls her

Sarai's servant.

Do with your servant

what you please.

Not his pregnant wife,

but Sarai's servant.

He shrugs

and just tells Sarah.

She's your problem.

Do with her

whatever you want.

And the result is

Sarai dealt

harshly with her

and Hagar

fled from her.

What a mess.

What a mess.

Sarai was barren

and we can empathize

with her.

She was understandably

heartbroken.

Understandably

impatient.

But we also see

the tragedy,

the futility

of her actions.

She wanted a kid,

but all she got

was contempt.

She wanted a child.

She just got conflict.

It's often the case.

Hurt people hurt people.

And Sarai

lashed out at Hagar.

The result was

Hagar running away.

Pregnant Hagar.

Caring who,

to their knowledge,

could be

the son promised

to Abram.

The child of promise.

That's what they

might have been thinking.

But now she's gone.

The child is gone.

The one they've been

waiting so long for.

None of this.

Their plans,

their do-it-yourself plans

weren't really

well thought out.

They saw the problem

but not really

the end to the solution.

Think about the times

that we're tempted

to do it ourselves.

To scheme according

to our own designs.

to substitute dish soap

for dishwasher soap.

Maybe stay on the topic

of marriage and dating.

Is there someone

that you're talking to

that you know

you have no business

talking to?

They make you feel good.

But what's the plan?

What's the end goal?

It might start with high

but maybe it ends

your marriage.

Or for those dating,

looking to marriage.

You're thinking maybe

it's true that there's

fewer and fewer people

to pick from

within the church.

And it seems like

there's fewer and fewer

the more you wait.

The more time goes by.

It's less and less likely.

But if we say

that Jesus is Lord

then what are we doing

with someone who says

Jesus is a myth?

How can we deny ourselves

pick up our cross

and follow him

while also following

someone in the opposite direction?

When we're tempted

to do it our way,

Genesis 16 reminds us

it always leaves a mess.

We also see later

in verse 16

Abram was 86 years old

when Hagar

bore Ishmael to Abram.

And spoiler alert,

if we skip forward

to chapter 21,

we see that God's plan

was not for the promise

to come through Ishmael.

But God's plan

was for Sarai

to bear a son

for Abram

whose name is Isaac.

And when that happens,

Abraham is at the ripe

old age of 100.

He's 86 now.

He's 100 years old later.

14 years later,

that's when Isaac comes.

And we don't know

when Isaac

would have come otherwise.

But one commentator says

that in the perspective

of Genesis,

it emerges that

Ishmael's birth

was a diversion.

Sarah's anxiety

to have a child

seems to have delayed

the promise's fulfillment

some 14 years.

So in the rush,

in their,

when they got tired

of waiting,

they took action.

And maybe

they actually delayed

the fulfillment

of God's promise

by 14 years.

It's hard to wait,

but it's even harder

to wait another 14 years.

Obedience to God

never means missing out.

Doing it ourself

just makes a mess.

We can trust by faith

that God's plan

for us is good.

And right now,

Hagar is caught

right in the middle

of that mess.

Abram and Sarah's shortcut

has left her pregnant

and mistreated

and she also takes matters

into her own hands too.

She flees

and she's running

for her life

into the wilderness.

And that is where

the Lord meets her.

We read in verse 7,

the angel of the Lord

found her by a spring of water

in the wilderness,

the spring on the way

to Shur.

The angel of the Lord,

who is either

the presence of the Lord

or a messenger

of the Lord,

appears to Hagar.

And now here,

we see that the Lord

both convicts Hagar

and also comforts her.

He calls to her,

Hagar,

the servant of Sarai.

The Lord,

he dignifies Hagar

by calling her her name.

But he also reminds her

of her responsibility.

She is Sarai's servant

and she's running away from her.

And he convicts her.

Hagar,

servant of Sarai,

return to your mistress

and submit to her.

Turn around,

return to Sarai.

This is a tough word.

This is tough

because Sarai had been

harsh with Hagar.

But God tells her,

turn around,

return.

That's what you're meant to do.

And now,

this might raise

some eyebrows for us.

Is God telling Hagar

to stay in a toxic environment?

Is that what God wants for us?

I think we shouldn't

over-apply

what God says to Hagar

into situations today.

Maybe situations of abuse today.

This is a historical account

of a specific household

in conflict.

God has a specific instruction

for them.

Hagar was a servant

who had contempt

for her mistress,

contempt for Sarai,

who tried to take

Sarai's position.

And Sarai retaliated

with discipline,

with being harsh,

maybe too harsh.

But Hagar is also

out in the wilderness

all alone.

And God is telling Hagar

to return to the safety

of Abram's household.

Abram,

who has the promises of God,

and to repent

of her contempt,

repent of her pride,

laid that down

and submit

to Sarai

as she should.

This is not

a blanket command

for people today

to remain in dangerous

or abusive situations.

The Lord

convicts

and commands Hagar

to return

and submit

to her mistress.

At the same time,

the Lord also comforts her.

He comforts her

with a promise.

He says to her,

I will surely

multiply your offspring

so that they cannot

be numbered

for multitude.

This sounds very similar

to God's promise

to Abraham

that we read

last chapter.

Your descendants

will be like

the stars of the sky.

Sounds very similar

to that.

And God continues to her.

He says,

Behold,

you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call

his name Ishmael

because the Lord

has listened

to your affliction.

Ishmael,

the name Ishmael

means God hears.

That's the comfort

to Hagar.

That God hears us.

He listens to us.

He will hear us.

He hears your afflictions.

He sees what you've

been going through.

He sees the mistreatment

and he will look after you.

That's God's comfort

to Hagar.

Yet,

it's not all sunshines

and rainbows

because the next verse

says,

verse 12,

says that your son,

he shall be a wild donkey

of a man.

It's probably not a good sign

if you're called a donkey.

But also,

there's this promise

of conflict

that his hand

will be against everyone

and everyone's hand

against him.

He shall be in conflict

against all his kinsmen.

Despite Abram's

and Sarai's sin,

God redeemed the situation,

blesses Ishmael

with a multitude

of descendants.

But,

there's still a consequence.

Ishmael

and his descendants

will be marked

with conflict.

And we see in Genesis,

Ishmael later

will have conflict

with Isaac,

the child of promise.

Ishmaelites also

will be the ones

who buy Joseph

from his brothers

and bring him

to slavery

and to Egypt.

Sin can leave

generational consequences.

And so,

the Lord

redeemed the mess

that Abram

and Sarai

caused by their efforts,

but there are

some consequences

for their sin.

God both confronted

and comforted Hagar

with this.

And this is how

Hagar responds

in verse 13.

She called the name

of the Lord

who spoke to her.

You are a God

of seeing,

for she said,

truly here I've seen

him who looks after me.

And this verse

is significant

because she's actually

the only person

in the Bible

to give God

a name,

to give a name

for God,

to give God

a new name.

But also know

what Hagar says.

She,

God gave her

this promise.

But here,

she doesn't mention

anything about

the promise.

She doesn't mention

anything about

this multitude

of offspring.

She's actually

more concerned

about who God is

than in what

God promised her.

She has seen God.

God saw her.

God listened to her.

She has seen the Lord

and that's enough.

She was just

a slave to Sarai,

a tool that Sarai

could use for her purposes.

She was disposable

to Sarai.

But God saw

Hagar.

God listened to Hagar

and that was enough

for her.

Is that enough

for us?

To know that

the Lord sees us

in our waiting,

in our problems.

He hears our afflictions.

He is with us.

Is that enough

for us?

And so Hagar

obeys.

She returns to Abram

and notice this.

The whole journey,

this all thing started

because Sarai

had a plan.

She wanted to do

it herself,

to take action,

to fulfill God's promise,

to have a child

of her own.

But verse 15 says,

And Hagar

bore Abram

a son.

And Abram

called the name

of his son

whom Hagar

bore,

Ishmael.

And Abram

was 86 years old

when Hagar

bore Ishmael

to Abram.

It's Abram's son

whom Hagar

bore.

There's no mention

of Sarai.

Ishmael,

she wanted a son,

but Ishmael

isn't hers.

At the end of it,

he's Abram's son,

Hagar's son.

Her do-it-yourself

plan just led

to jealousy,

division,

and yes,

in the middle,

God redeemed it,

gave his blessing.

But there's also

conflict for

countless generations.

Sarai didn't get

what she wanted.

Her own attempts

to strive,

to stress,

to strain,

to obtain God's promise

at the end

amounted to nothing

and just led to

conflict down the line.

And the same

is true for us.

God doesn't need

our striving

to fulfill his promises.

He doesn't need

us to scheme

for him to keep

his word to us.

And so this is a call

for us to surrender

our anxieties to God,

to trust him,

to trust his providence,

to believe,

have faith

that following God

never means

missing out,

that his way

really is better

than our own design.

But that creates

a tension for us.

That if we aren't

supposed to strive,

then what's the balance

between taking action,

taking faithful action,

and also waiting on God?

Because on the one hand,

faith requires action.

Abram had to pack

his things up

in Genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

when God told him

to go leave his land,

go to another land

that God promised him.

And for us,

we still have

to study for exams.

We still have

to meet work deadlines.

How can we tell

that we're walking

in faithful action

or just trying

to do it ourselves,

scheme and do it ourselves?

Well, first,

we know that

whatever God calls us

to do

is going to align

with what he's revealed

in his word.

His plan aligns

with his word.

Abram taking another wife

was acceptable

in their culture,

but is against God's

revealed design

for marriage.

Obeying God

requires action,

but not by our own wisdom.

We can test our plans

against what's clear

in God's word.

And second,

we can check our hearts.

Are we acting out of faith

in reliance of God

or are we reacting

in fear?

Abram and Sarai,

they didn't act

because they felt

this peace

and conviction

that God's covenant

would be fulfilled

by taking Hagar

as a second wife.

They did it

because they were afraid.

They were afraid

that time was running out.

They were anxious.

They panicked

and wanted to do something.

And so for us,

do our actions,

they come from a place

of anxiety and panic

to try to force an outcome.

We need to land this job.

I need to work as hard

as I can

to make this happen.

Are we acting

out of faith

or in fear,

in panic?

And third,

are we trying

to do it ourselves

or are we

moving in reliance

on God?

When we look

at Genesis 16,

do you know what we see?

There's one thing

that we see missing

that I notice

that's missing.

That's prayer.

Abram and Sarai,

they never stop

to ask God,

is this what you

want us to do?

Is this how you

will fulfill your covenant?

Is taking Hagar

your plan?

And God,

he names the child

Ishmael,

which means

God hears.

God will hear.

And that's the question

for us.

If God hears,

then why don't we

pray to him?

If God hears,

then what are they

doing not praying

to him?

Are we making

our decisions

in prayer

in dependence

on him

or relying

on ourselves?

Psalm 127 says,

unless the Lord

builds the house,

those who labor

over it build it

in vain.

Unless the Lord

watches over the city,

the watchman

stays awake

in vain.

Are we acting

with that faith

or is our first

instinct to do

something

or to pray

knowing that

if God is not

with us,

it will amount

to nothing.

Abraham and Sarai,

they tried to build

the house themselves

and the result

is they labored

in vain.

They got Ishmael,

a child born

of the flesh,

not of the promise.

They tried to do

it themselves

and it didn't work.

And if there's

one thing we know,

if there's one thing

that we can't do

for ourselves,

it's earn our

righteousness with God.

There's one thing

that we can't do

is earn our way

to God.

We can't earn

our own salvation.

What can a man

give in exchange

for his soul?

Galatians 4

will later pick up

on this.

There is a child

born of the flesh,

born of human design,

born by human striving

and that's Ishmael,

slaved,

exhausted,

cast out of the house.

On the other hand,

there is another child,

Isaac,

that will later

be born of the promise,

born out of reliance

on God's promise,

out of faith.

And that's the same

for us,

that when we strive,

we take efforts

to be a good person,

to earn our way,

earn our righteousness

with God.

If what we're saying

is,

I'm trying my best,

I can get to know you,

God,

I deserve eternity

with you,

God,

because I was

a good person,

know that this will

always amount to nothing

when we try to do it

ourselves.

Our only hope

is that God made

a covenant

as we read last week

with Abram,

that he would take on

the curse of our sin,

that he would send

an offspring

who would crush

the head of the snake,

Jesus,

who would accomplish

everything he demands

from us,

if only we put

our faith in him.

That's what we learn here

from Abram and Sarai's story.

When we try to do it

on our own,

it'll make a mess.

But God stepped down

in Jesus,

he sent his son

to take on our mess,

to die for our sins,

rise from the dead

so that we can have life,

so that we don't have

to do it ourselves

because we can't.

And many of us

are in a season

of waiting right now,

maybe waiting for a spouse,

waiting for a child,

waiting to progress

in our careers,

waiting for healing.

And we have this assurance

that God sees us,

he hears our affliction.

And we know because

we see what Jesus

done on the cross.

When he hung on the cross,

that situation

seemed desperate.

It might have looked

like at that time

the promises of God

would fail.

Jesus was dying,

but in that hopeless moment

when it seemed

that God's plan

amounted to nothing,

that's when he was working.

That's when Jesus

took on the full

penalty of our sins.

He did it

so that all the promises

of God

find their yes in him.

He did it so that

we don't have to do it ourselves.

And if we can trust him

with our souls,

with our salvation,

why can't we also

trust him

with our schools,

with our work,

with our homes,

when we're in the hospital,

in our relationships,

in our families?

Can we not also trust him

with those things?

If we're getting tired

of waiting,

remember this.

We don't have to do it

ourselves.

We can trust in Jesus.

He didn't take any shortcuts.

He didn't take the easy way.

In Gethsemane,

he cried out,

if there's any other way,

let this cup pass from me,

but not my will,

but yours be done.

Can we do the same

to surrender our striving

and our scheming?

Surrender to him.

Lay aside every weight

and sin which clings

so closely,

looking to Jesus,

and run with endurance

the race that is set

before us.

Let's put our trust in him.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

God,

we thank you that you

are someone

we can put our faith in.

You are our firm foundation.

You are the anchor

for our soul.

In Christ,

all the promises of God

find their yes and amen.

we know that for those

who love God,

all things work together

for good.

That what we mean for evil,

you mean for good.

That these light momentary

afflictions are preparing

for us an eternal weight

of glory beyond all comparison.

They're not just happening,

but are preparing for us glory.

That we are co-heirs with Christ,

provided we suffer with him.

God,

we hold to your promises.

We pray that you help us

to hold to your promises.

And we know

that there is suffering now.

There is waiting now.

There's anxieties now.

But you are making

all things new.

Help us to trust you,

to believe in you,

to look

to your coming.

and you're worthy of our faith.

Thank you, God.

In Jesus' name,

amen.

Amen.

Amen.