It was the custom, in those days, that if the wife could not bear children, she would give her handmaiden to her husband to bear the child she wanted for her.
Abram was a just and fair man, and he had a lot of heart. He wanted to please his wife. So, he did what his wife asked him to do.
Hagar conceived and was pregnant. When she got pregnant, she taunted Sarai with the fact that it was SHE who was pregnant, and not Sarai. Sarai was not fit to give Abram the heir he wanted.
This hurt and angered Sarai. So she went to Abram and told him.
Abram told Sarai that it was her decision to give him Hagar to conceive. Hagar belonged to her. If she was not acting right, it was up to her to straighten the matter out. Sarai was his true love. He would stand by her decision.
Sarai lashed back at Hagar. She was firm and very harsh, until, finally, Hagar ran away.
But, she didn't get far. An Angel stopped her and told her to go back and be submissive to Sarai. He promised that her child would father many people. He would be a fighter, like his mother, in the face of all his brethren.
Abram was 86 years old when his oldest son, Ishmael, was born.
Sometimes our decisions have consequences that we find hard to live with. We must take responsibility for those type of decisions, grab the bull by the horns, so to speak, and move forward.
Our boundaries that we create because of them may cause friction in our relationships with others, but - in the end - we are better off if we accept the consequences and let God work out the details.
We must remember that our main responsibility is to trust God, to wait on Him to keep His promises, and to try to not make decisions that only belong to Him.
If we do, we must realize also that God already knows the future. He knew what we would do, and He has already made a plan for that as well.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
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