What Did You Do That For?!

Introduction

Little over 10 years ago, my best friend got married

As his best man, my job was the bachelor party

Few years earlier, would have been stupid and sinful

At this time, I was following Christ - needed something cool, but not sinful

Decided on a road trip - 4 guys in a Jeep driving to SF (never been)

Ever been to CA, there’s a few choices - we chose PCH (the 1)

We use “the” in CA - had a convo with Chuck last week

Take THE 10 to THE 57 to THE 55...

Take 150 to 74 to 474...

Anyway, we chose THE 1 to go to San Francisco - the scenic route

It’s a very beautiful drive - not the world’s most beautiful drive - that name’s taken

Views of the ocean with rocks and cliffs...

But when it gets dark, it’s not beautiful… it’s just scary

You can’t see anything, but the ocean, rocks and cliffs are still there

A slight jerk of the wheel, or nodding off could drop you hundreds of feet into the darkness

And so you trust your headlights, the signs that warn of twists and turns, the reflectors and the dividers

Sometimes those brights come at you, and you’re staring at the edge to maintain your path

In those moments, you’re thankful you have something to trust

Reminds me of this life with God

As much as we like to trust ourselves, we’re often blinded by the shiny things this world has to offer

We’re often too tired to pay attention to the right path

When we’re scared, we look of something to trust

Just like our headlights, we have the light of the world in Christ

Just like the signs and warnings of the road, God gives us warnings and signs

And so we should trust God

And yet, when I look at this road of life, I see so many people pull over

Too afraid to keep going so they’re sleeping

Broken down, gone over the side of the hill

And I’m not talking about unbelievers, I’m talking about Christians

And why? It’s simple: They believe in a God they don’t trust

They have disconnected their belief in God, from walking with God

James 2:18–19 (ESV)

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Belief is important, but God intends for us to do something with that belief!

Rather than believing in God and walking alone, we are to trust Him to guide our steps

YouVersion: What Did You Do That For?!

We’re in Genesis 16:1-16

Genesis 16:1–2 (ESV)

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

EGYPTIAN MAID: Probably leftover from the stuff he got while in Egypt

Genesis 12:16 (ESV)

16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

HAGAR BECOMES SURROGATE: Custom for Ishmael to be Sarai’s child

We have choices in who we trust

ILLUSTRATION: We all know people that we...

Don’t trust (Dusty – how should I know?!)

Trust sometimes (Kevin – He’ll be there, but he’ll be 2 hours late)

Or always trust (My mom – my mom would crawl to hell and back before she let me down)

Someone makes us a promise, we decide whether to trust them, but what if they’re God?

LESSON: Sarai wants to trust, time stirs doubt and she tries to force the promise

Genesis 16:3 (ESV)

3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

10 YEARS: Tradition says childlessness was punishment for not being in the land, but it’s been 10 years!

IMPORTANT THEME! This was NOT God’s idea! He ordered no surrogate!

ILLUSTRATION: Like training a dog, they don’t understand why, so they try to take it

BTW, the dog never learns “why”, they simply learn to obey

DELAYED EVEN MORE: “Helping God out” only pushed back Isaac for 13 more years!

EX: Israel’s blessing was delayed for their lack of faith

Numbers 14:22–23 ESV

22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

Matthew 12:38–39 ESV

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

1 Samuel 13:13–14 ESV

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON? God changed His actions because of our taking control

LESSON: Don’t try to take control from God, He knows what He’s doing

STORY: Desperately praying for ministry in the lab

LESSON: God sees the whole picture (I was only 1.5 years into school!)

Why do we do this? We want control because we’re afraid of what God might do

Martin Luther: Pray, and let God worry.”

Genesis 16:4 (ESV)

4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

NOT AN AFFAIR: Sarai was likely present during conception

EXPLANATION: Hagar would sit on Sarai’s lap, symbolizing surrogacy

TERRIBLE FOR SARAI: This reveals (a) the problem is with Sarai, not Abram

And (b) that Hagar is “more of a woman” and more blessed

RESULT: Hagar gets a little snippy with Sarai

Taking control messes things up

ILLUSTRATION: Tash getting “addicted” to nasal spray

Genesis 16:5 (ESV)

5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!”

WRONG OR RIGHT: Sarai blames Abram for the whole thing!

RIGHT: Abram is the spiritual leader. “No, we need to trust God and His timing”

WRONG: Wasn’t this Sarai’s idea in the first place?

THEME REMINDER: This was NOT God’s idea!

DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER: The Bible is merely reporting their conversation, not taking sides

REALITY: The Bible would say they are BOTH wrong!

Genesis 16:6 (ESV)

6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

ABRAM’S REACTION: He must choose between his child-bearer and his wife

RIGHT: It is great that he chose to side with his wife; a good husband usually does

WRONG: However, I can’t help but feel he’s just checking out here

ILLUSTRATION: Scorn

DEFINITION: Scorned: to feel or express contempt or derision for.

William Congreve mentioned this in his play “The Mourning Bride” first presented in 1697

From this we get the adapted phrase “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”

COMPARISON: My wife and a slave woman having my child and being snotty about it

LESSON: Sarai was probably cruel, and Hagar said “SHE’S CRAZY! I’m outta here!”

Blaming others only makes things worse

Genesis 16:7–8 (ESV)

7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

EXPLANATION: At this point, God decides to intervene

PRACTICAL: When we take things further than God is willing to let them go, He will intervene

LESSON: In our lives, we may think it’s bad but God has decided to let it go there

Genesis 16:9–10 (ESV)

9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

SETUP: This “Angel of the Lord” is likely a “Christophany” because He says “I will...”

NOTE: He tells her to do something most people would not advise today (return to abuse)

Returning to God is the only answer

THOUGHT: It’s almost as if God is challenging Hagar now, and she responds much better

THOUGHT: If only Abram and Sarai held on to God’s promise to tightly

SUMMARIZE: God says “Go back and face this challenge, and I will bless you”

And He does, because Ishmael is the father of all Arabic people

Look at what God says about this:

Genesis 16:11 (ESV)

11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant

and shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael,

because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

The name Ishmael means “God will hear”

ILLUSTRATION: God hears everyone at all times

From the lowest beggar to the sickest cancer patient to the wealthiest trust-fund kid

We should find comfort in knowing that God hears and cares

Genesis 16:12 (ESV)

12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man,

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Ishmael is going to have it tough, and his descendents will have much conflict with the Jews

Even today... EXPLAIN

PRACTICAL LESSON: We find hope because God sustains wild, contentious men like us

Genesis 16:13–14 (ESV)

13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

EVIDENCE: The Christophany is cleared up here:

Name of the Lord who spoke to her

And You are the GOD who sees (No question for Hagar)

Genesis 16:15–16 (ESV)

15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Obviously, Hagar was faithful to God and obeyed His command

LESSON: This isn’t the first time Abram/Sarai fouled things up and won’t be the last

POINT IS SIMPLE: Wait on God’s timing

ILLUSTRATION: The point of baseball is to win. Yeah, but how? What does it take to win?

Trusting God can be uncomfortable but it’s right

LESSON: We are to wait, but that takes...

Endurance

Patience

Obedience

Discipline

Discernment

Even leadership

But most importantly it takes trust in God