The Real Issue

When we remember that Abraham was willing to pass off his wife as his sister on two occasions, it should not come as a surprise that he would allow himself to be persuaded by his wife to have a child by her Egyptian slave girl.   He was a proven seeker of the expedient way!  Even though God had promised him a son through Sarah, his wife, it obviously was not going to happen.  Verse 2 of chapter 16 points us to the moment of decision, "And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai."  The man who was promised more descendants than the stars decided he needed to get started even if it meant doing it his own way.

 

Now some folks read this 16th chapter of Genesis and go off on all sorts of tangents.  After all, here is an opportunity to speak against a terrible injustice like slavery.  Or, it could be seen as a time to address the economic disparity between the wealthy and the very poor.  And most assuredly, there is plenty of fodder here to deal with the issue of sexual exploitation of women.  There are plenty of soap boxes one could climb in the midst of a reading of this particular passage in Genesis. 

 

But, to do so would be at the risk of missing the real issue.  And what is that issue that would take precedent over all these pressing issues of our current social agenda?  The real issue is trusting God to keep His Word.  Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah, his wife, instead of the voice of God which had been promising him a son for a long, long time.  Abraham's issue at this point in the story is our issue.  Are we one of those who lives trusting and believing that God is dependable?  Do we live trusting Him to keep His word?  Or, are we listening to some other voice which tells us to hedge our bets, to have a Plan B, and to do whatever it takes to be sure we get what we want?