In Genesis 15 God makes an agreement with Abraham. God tells him, despite the old age of Abraham and his wife Sarah, they would conceive a child.
By Genesis 16, Abraham and his wife hatch a plan to speed up the process involving a woman named Hagar, an Egyptian slave of Sarah. Sarah suggests that Abraham bears an heir, but with Hagar, not Sarah.
Today I met with a bloke with a burning, God-given, vision which he struggles to see realised within church structures.
As we were chatting my mind wandered to the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar.
The plan they hatch backfires as they attempt to navigate around God's plans and, more importantly, God's timing.
I think this passage is applicable in two areas. Ministry and dating.
In these two spheres it is tempting to manipulate God's plans and timing. We can try and take a short-cut to what we want and in doing so "turn to a Hagar."
When God told Abraham he was to become a father, Hagar was nowhere in the equation.
Hagar was the idea of man not God.
Hagar was a compromise.
Hagar was second best.
In ministry we can choose the Hagar option by settling for an easy option and not persevering when times get tough.
In ministry we can choose the Hagar option by turning from the vision God has laid upon us and make concessions to "entertain" or "provide a safe baby-sitting service."
In dating we can trade waiting for a Christian to date and settle for the "nice bloke who doesn't believe in God" or a "chick who is pretty cool with the whole God thing."
I've seen plenty of people take the Hagar option, and like what happened to Abraham and Sarah, the consequences of impatience are worse than could have been imagined going in or what was initially promised by God.
Sometimes we need to wait for God's plan to unfold in His timing, not substitute our own tactics.
3 comments:
Unless of course dating the non- Christian is part of God's plan and the right thing in God's timing.
Or indeed hanging around and doing nothing in your church is excused by saying you are waiting for God's timing.
There are many stories throughout the bible of God working because someone does something that the religious elite say is inappropriate. It is hard for us to read God's mind. Judging other people because they do something that doesn't seem to you to be the right thing seems fairly pointless.
A believer dating a non-Christian can work. But I've written before than I think it is an unwise option.
And sure, this could be a part of God's plan FOR SOME, but experience tells me that this is hard to believe in the majority of cases.
Pointing out somthing which is unwise does make sense.
But I must agree with you that some Christians do use "God's timing" as an excuse for laziness/inaction.
I am Hagar. And I thank God for permitting Abraham to choose me.
But for that grace, I would in all likelihood not have come to know God.
Post a Comment