Good morning y’all.  Happy Monday :).
Today we in chapter 16 of Genesis. Here we see Sarai tell Abram to sleep with her maidservant. Abram agreed and she bore him a son named Ishmael.

Let’s see what we can learn from this juicy chapter 🙂 Be blessed 🙂

God made a promise to Abram that he was going to have a son  Though he didn’t specifically say through Sarai but I’d like to believe that God meant from Sarai seeing as she is his wife. Anyways in the eyes of Sarai she felt God was taking too long to fulfill the promise, so she decided to help God by taking matters into her own hands. Now lets be real, how many times have we tried to help God in our own lives by taking matters into our own hands. Like Sarai we too felt God was just taking too long. Did it end well? Did we create a mess for ourselves that God had to step in and clean up. In hindsight do you think if you had waited for God, things would have been different? When we choose to run ahead of God we end up creating a mess for ourselves. We end up in more trouble than good. Let’s be patient and wait for the promise.

She gave her slave to Abram for she thought if the slave had a child, the child would be hers. Abram agreed to the plan. I wonder why he agreed to such seeing as in the previous chapter God had told him he would have a son from his loins. I’m guessing Abram was tired of the constant nagging from his wife…she was probably crying day and night give me a child!  We all know how we women could be sometimes when we want something and want it badly…we can nag and nag till we drive the other person crazy (***covering my eyes***). I’m guessing that’s how it was with Abram and Sarai and so he eventually agreed to the plan. Perhaps he also doubted God meant a child from Sarai. At the end of the day the child from the slave will be from his loins so the promise will be fulfilled, except that wasn’t God’s plan. Ishmael looked like the real deal but he wasn’t the promise. There are things around us that look like the promise God gave to us but on closer inspection we will realise they are not the promise, they are just an imitation of the promise. Had Abram consulted God on the issue, perhaps God would have told him Ishmael wasn’t the promise and told him to be patient for he will surely bring to pass his promise. Let’s ask God for a discerning spirit to discern the real deal from the imitation.

Eventually Hagar got pregnant and started resenting her mistress. She became proud because she a slave could do something her mistress couldn’t do – get pregnant. In her own eyes she felt she had arrived. She had no regard or respect whatsoever for her mistress. How do we respond when God blesses us and others around us are still waiting for their blessing. Do we treat them with contempt, do we look down upon them and rub it in their face constantly?  Don’t forget God is the one who gave the blessing and he can easily decide to take it away from us. Let’s treat others with respect and be humble knowing that all we have and are is from God.

Sarai had had enough of Hagars attitude so she decided to dish hers out on her too. The punishment was too much for hagar that she ran away to the desert. In her lowly state, an Angel of the Lord appeared to her to comfort her. The Angel told her to return to Sarai and gave her prophesies concerning her son who was to be named Ishmael. My bible commentary says Ishmael means ‘God hears’. Isnt it comforting to know that God hears us, that we are not serving a God who is blind to our needs or deaf to our cries :). God is aware of everything thats going on in our lives and around us. Even though bible doesn’t say Hagar cried out to God. The Angels statement suggests she did. For the Angel said to her the Lord has heard your cry for help….

Whatever you are going through today, just know that God sees and He hears you. Cry out to him today and he will meet you where you are. You don’t have to be perfect or have it all together. Hagar wasn’t perfect she was rude to her mistress and ran away yet God still met her and blessed her. Trust God to meet your needs today. He is the friend that is closer than a brother. In Isaiah 49:15 He said He will never forget you.
The Lord answered, “Could a mother forget a child who nurses at her breast? Could she fail to love an infant who came from her own body? Even if a mother could forget, I will never forget you. (CEVUS06)
In Matthew 28:20b He said He is with you always.
…..I will be with you always, even until the end of the world. (CEVUS06)
In Hebrews 13: 5b – 6, He said He will never leave you nor forsake you.
For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (NLT)

Be encouraged today God sees and hears you.

Prayer:
Dear Lord we thank you for today. Thank you for your love towards us. Thank you for reminding us today that you are not a blind or deaf God. You are a God who sees and hears us. Pls help us wait for you and to trust you to meet our needs. Teach us to be humble even when the blessings come. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to share your thots on the chapter.

Have a blessed day and remember God sees and hears you 🙂

***With God all things are possible***