Solving God’s Problems
Music Video: https://youtu.be/ryFS_3eBq6s?si=xOtcdFUzy5YzLFRO
Scripture for Today: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+16:1-6&version=NLT
Recorded Version of the Sermon
Sermon Notes
Head/Mind – Helpful Information
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/overwhelmed-a-amp-e-units-tell-patients-to-wait-in-cars-p3tddq926
Polygamy – Though the Old Testament permits the practice of polygamy, it never commends it. And, you will not find a single example in the Old Testament of it working out in a positive way. By the time of the end of the Exile, Judaism was already moving away from polygamy and toward the model set out for us in Genesis 1-3, of one man and one woman in a life long covenant together. By the time of the New Testament, polygamy was almost unheard of among Jewish people, being practiced very rarely by common people, and just slightly more common among the most rich and powerful; though, even then, this practice was frowned upon. #polygamy
In Abram and Sarai’s culture, using Hagar as a second wife to Abram, and as a surrogate mother for Sarai seemed like a very wise and practical way of solving the problem of God’s yet unfulfilled promise. By the standards of their culture, they were not doing anything unethical. And, we have to remember, they did not have the guidance of the Torah and the rest of scripture to guide them.
Notice, that Abram is no longer in Egypt, but he has carried out a lot of Egypt with him, including a servant from Egypt, named Hagar. This is going to create many, many problems. This is why God did not want to give Abram an answer to his question back in chapter fifteen. He knew Abram and Sarai would not understand the information God gave them and that they would try to create a human solution to the problem. And they did. The solution was a boy named Ishmael.
And, at age thirteen, Ishmael had become a man and was now Abram’s legal heir. Thirteen years after making a decision to not wait on God, Sarai hates the decision they have made.
Heart – The Personal Connection
What I want to talk about in this part of the sermon is how waiting plays an important role in our spiritual development.
In a blog post on The Desiring God website, Scott Hubbard writes,
Twenty-five years. Three hundred months. One thousand three hundred weeks. Nine thousand one hundred twenty-five days. That’s how long Abraham waited between hearing God’s promise and holding his son (Genesis 12:4; 21:5).
We can read Genesis 12-21 in one sitting, but Abraham and Sarah lived it day by day, nine thousand mornings and more. Three times we’re told God appeared to Abraham to reaffirm his word (Genesis 15:5; 17:16; 18:10). In the meantime, he and Sarah carried the past promise in the land of present silence, waiting with open hands and an empty womb.
Abraham, “The father of us all” (Romans 4:16), was a waiting man; his faith, a waiting faith. As his seventies turned to eighties turned to nineties, he waited. As he moved through Haran to Canaan to Egypt and back, he waited. As his body weakened and his wife grew gray, he waited.
God could have brought Isaac sooner, or he could have given the promise later. Instead, he sent Abraham into the wilderness of waiting for twenty-five years. Waiting was a part of God’s good plan for Abraham. And so it is with us.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/faith-in-the-wilderness-of-waiting
But at some point, Abraham and and Sarah got tired of waiting and decided to jump ahead of God’s plans. This is what went wrong with the story. They short circuited the process of waiting.
Take the process of gestation for an unborn child. In general, infants that are born very early are not considered to be viable until after 24 weeks gestation. It creates a crisis if the process is cut short. If you give birth to an infant before they are 24 weeks old, their chance of surviving is usually less than 50 percent.
https://healthcare.utah.edu/womens-health/pregnancy-birth/preterm-birth/when-is-it-safe-to-deliver
Or take the process of trees bringing forth fruit or a flower coming to full development. Winter only seems to be a time of dormancy. But important stages of development are taking place, where no eye can see. If a warm spell happens, followed by a deep freeze, that development is arrested and the chances are the fruit or flower will be lost.
The same is true of emotional and educational development. During the pandemic, millions of children missed out on crucial pieces of their education, including reading comprehension. It is not clear whether or not these children will be able to make up for what was lost.
Waiting is not wasted time. Waiting is a crucial part of how we develop as human beings. It is also a crucial part of how God prepares us for participating in his plans.
When someone undergoes knee or hip surgery, it is important that the patient follows the time table set by the physical therapist. If they get impatient with the progress and try to do too much too soon, they are likely to have a costly setback that will end up dragging out the healing process.
Whenever God causes us to wait, it is because he has something big in mind. He has grand designs that cannot be rushed.
Have you ever taken a cake out of the oven too soon? Have you ever taken the stage without adequate practice? Have you ever rushed a job, only to end up with an inferior product? We must trust the Master Artist, as he shapes and forms his people.
In Jeremiah 18, we read: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.’”
Isaiah 64:8 says, But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Hands – The Practical Application
Ephesians 2:10, Paul says, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
He also says, in 2 Corinthians 3:18,
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit of the Lord.”
Do you see what this means? It means that God is still shaping us, still forming us, still perfecting us. And that means that we have to stay in the Potter’s hands. We have to be pliable and teachable, and willing to grow and develop. And, most importantly, we have to be willing to wait on his timing.
What area of your life needs to be placed in the Potter’s hands? What area do you need to yield to his designs? In what area of your life do you need to learn to wait?
Closing Song: https://youtu.be/6vfqYwfTqlE?si=SF78QcXcNIxdScMw