Thursday, October 10, 2019

Whose Fault? - Devotion on Genesis 16


Scripture: Genesis 16:1-2
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Whose fault is it when bad things happen to you? Who can you point the finger at and pin the blame on?

Sarai was unfortunate enough not to have ever had children even though she desperately wanted them. In this conversation with her husband, she blames God for her misfortune, saying that God has kept her from having children.

The Bible doesn't say that God had anything to do with Sarai's inability to conceive. It may have simply been a bad thing that happened to her. But instead of accepting her situation for the natural condition it was, she pointed the finger at God.

When she decided – note that God didn't give her this idea – to have Abram sleep with Hagar, she was jealous of the resulting pregnancy and blamed Abram, saying he was responsible for the situation.

When she mistreated Hagar, she was responsible for Hagar running away.

In all of these instances, Sarai tried to blame someone for her problems instead of simply accepting them and dealing with them maturely.

We all have problems. Bad things happen to us. But at no time is God the source of those bad things happening. God loves us and only wishes to bless us. In fact, if Sarai would have been patient, she would have found God blessing her with her own child soon enough.

God does not cause bad things to happen to us. But if we will be patient and conduct ourselves maturely instead of blaming Him and others for our misfortunes, He will eventually help us.

What situations can you recall God helping you with? Can you have faith enough to know that He's going to help again?

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