She came to me in a huff, she wasn’t going to take it anymore. I thought we had been over it enough times for her to understand that it would happen, all in good time. But because I was tired of the constant nagging I made a terrible decision that has haunted me since.
It’s not rocket science for you to conclude that I am old as I sit before you cavemen. I have lived many years so much so it’s not difficult for me to hear your challenges. I’ve seen similar and had to share my story. My name is Abraham, formally known as Abram. Others know me as the “Father of Faith” but let me be clear, I wasn’t always faithful. There are times in my life I took things into my own hands thinking that my way was the best.
Back in the day when they used to call me Abram, God gave me a vision. In it He told me that I would have a son and that my descendants would rule over a great expanse of land. The only problem here was that my wife (Sarai) and I weren’t conceiving. He instructed me to sacrifice and I did it. He broke it down on how things would transpire and what was expected of me at that point in my life. I did that too. Dad had established a covenant with me.
So you may recall me saying earlier that, she came in a huff? She was my wife Sarai and wifey was frustrated and said
“The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” - Gen. 16:2
It didn’t seem like a bad idea because it logically made sense. The children that God promised I would have would be my flesh and blood. So I did it. I had sex with Sarai’s slave Hagar. She got pregnant on that one encounter. You would think all was on track, right, wrong! Things went sideways and fast. Hagar started hating on my wife so much so wifey came back and dropped this bombshell on me
“You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” - Gen. 16:5
As much as it stings to think about those words and worse still wifey had approached me suggesting that I sleep with her slave, Sarai had every right to say that because I wasn’t man enough to say no to her suggestion. So I told Sarai to do what she wanted with her slave. Because I know my wife, she frustrated the life out of Hagar to the point where the slave girl ran away. She came back for some reason and gave birth to my son, Ishmael, but I later learnt that my logical response to impatience later caused problems in my household.
I was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. I didn’t see the Lord until I was 99 years old. For 13 years I knew my impatience and rationale had affected the privilege of seeing God I had.
Inspired by Genesis 15-16