Beware of Shortcuts (19 of 54)
Series: The Book of Beginnings
Keith Krell
Genesis 16:1-16
Are you a patient person? One of the best ways I know to determine your level of patience is to ask you to consider your driving habits. Does it kill you to decrease your speed in 25 mph zones? When you are waiting for a parking space in a busy parking lot, does your heart rate increase? When you see the traffic light turn yellow, do you floor it through the intersection? It is easy to think you are a fairly patient person until you ask yourself hard questions about your driving habits.
Richard Hendrix said, ''Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.'' If Hendrix is correct, and I believe he is, if we want to grow in godliness, we must grow in patience. We must learn to wait on God. In Genesis 16:1-16, we will discover two principles that will help us to avoid the temptation to ''make things happen.'' First...
1. Wait on God's promises (16:1-6). Moses begins our chapter with these words, ''Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.'' Verse 1 begins by identifying Sarai as ''Abram's wife.'' Why is this necessary? The reader knows who Sarai is. We shall quickly see that this point is made for emphasis. God had promised Abram a son (12:2). But in Abram's impatience, he adopted his servant girl's son and named him Eliezer, which means, ''God of help'' (15:2-3). However, God rejected Eliezer and reaffirmed His promise to give Abram a son out of his own body (15:4). But ten years later, Abram is still waiting! Abram is 85 and Sarai is 75 years old. Undoubtedly, they must have been discouraged and disillusioned by the problem of Sarai's barrenness (cf. 11:30). Sarai is likely feeling like a failure...when all of a sudden she remembers her Egyptian maid, Hagar. It is nearly certain that Sarai has acqui ...
Series: The Book of Beginnings
Keith Krell
Genesis 16:1-16
Are you a patient person? One of the best ways I know to determine your level of patience is to ask you to consider your driving habits. Does it kill you to decrease your speed in 25 mph zones? When you are waiting for a parking space in a busy parking lot, does your heart rate increase? When you see the traffic light turn yellow, do you floor it through the intersection? It is easy to think you are a fairly patient person until you ask yourself hard questions about your driving habits.
Richard Hendrix said, ''Second only to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity, and genuine spirituality most of us ever encounter.'' If Hendrix is correct, and I believe he is, if we want to grow in godliness, we must grow in patience. We must learn to wait on God. In Genesis 16:1-16, we will discover two principles that will help us to avoid the temptation to ''make things happen.'' First...
1. Wait on God's promises (16:1-6). Moses begins our chapter with these words, ''Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.'' Verse 1 begins by identifying Sarai as ''Abram's wife.'' Why is this necessary? The reader knows who Sarai is. We shall quickly see that this point is made for emphasis. God had promised Abram a son (12:2). But in Abram's impatience, he adopted his servant girl's son and named him Eliezer, which means, ''God of help'' (15:2-3). However, God rejected Eliezer and reaffirmed His promise to give Abram a son out of his own body (15:4). But ten years later, Abram is still waiting! Abram is 85 and Sarai is 75 years old. Undoubtedly, they must have been discouraged and disillusioned by the problem of Sarai's barrenness (cf. 11:30). Sarai is likely feeling like a failure...when all of a sudden she remembers her Egyptian maid, Hagar. It is nearly certain that Sarai has acqui ...
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