Wait for the promise

Galatians 4:21–31 ESV

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.” 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

Paul continues his exhortations, his warnings to the people of Galatia and if you remember what we talked about last time you will remember that Paul changes his tone.

He might come off a little rough and gruff but now he is speaking to these folks like little children that have gone astray. He really loves them and he really cares for them.

Paul is still going to reinforce the idea that you can’t purchase your salvation, you can’t make it any better than God’s Grace can, Paul will use a new tool here in how he reinforces these ideas. He is talking about what it means that Christians, those who have put their trust in Jesus for their salvation alone are part of a long history of children of promise. Children of the promise.

Instead of trusting solely in God the Galatians were trying to add to their salvation, they were trying to make it better if you will. They are not trusting completely in God and they are going to suffer for it if they put any of their own effort into it. Paul uses the history of an ancient family to talk about this. Paul tells them the tragic story of Sarah and Hagar, her slave.

You may remember the story about Abram and Sarai. These two has a special job to do for God. They would be the beginning of the Jewish nation.

God was going to give Abram descendants like the stars of the sky, like the sand on the sea shore.

They were all too happy to receive this news but the problem was that they didn’t have any children to begin with and things did not look like they ever would have had children.

Abram was 75 when God first told him that he would have a great family. Sarai, his wife was 65 at the time. They didn’t have kids. Didn’t look like kids were coming. The well had gone dry...

Now this is a really big deal.

I need to have you understand how much of a big deal this is culturally. Barrenness for a woman in these ancient times was the worst form of embarrassment. Women had their identity wrapped up in giving their husband a family, a lineage and to not be able to have children would have been horrible.

It’s not that having a family was the only thing a woman was good for, that is not what I am saying. But to not be able to have children was a big affliction in the life of a woman in this day.

It’s tragic in any day when a woman who wants to have a child can’t. I can’t imagine the pain and disappointment associated with not being able to conceive, but I know people who have struggled with this.

In ancient Jewish times the stigma was so great that men could legally divorce their wives if within 10 years they weren’t able to conceive.

And so Sarai

You see, Sarai knew that God had spoken with Abram. She knew what God said and God said that they would be a great nation. That they would have children.

At this point in her life she was probably over it. She was probably past it. Thinking that there was no hope. And then God spoke to her husband.

Think from Sarah’s point of view. How could this be? How can this happen? I am 65. As we keep reading through Genesis we see that time passes, and we see that Sarai gets impatient.

Years go by, probably about 10. She didn’t see how it would work. So she did the only thing they knew how to do, fix it on her own. It may seem like it makes sense… God helps those who help themselves right? Wrong! Nowhere in the Word of God will you find the phrase, God helps those who help themselves”. Nowhere. But tragically this is what Sarah does.

Genesis 16:2 ESV

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.

It was not uncommon to obtain children this way. It doesn’t necessarily make it right.

When God instituted marriage between the man and the woman in

Genesis 2:24 ESV

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

One flesh, one wife to become one. Nowhere in Scripture does God condone someone having multiple wives. Even though you see some of the hero’s of the faith participate in it, it doesn’t make it right.

David had multiple wives, solomon did too. But that doesn’t mean that it was right in God’s eyes.

So Sarah gives her servant to Abraham to have a child with.

Interesting that Abraham listened to the voice of Sarai, succumbed to her pressures. He isn’t leading her in the way of the Lord. He is going along with her.

Not that adoption is wrong, it isn’t. It is actually a blessing. Not only are parents given the children they couldn’t have themselves, they are rescuing a child that so desperately needs a family.

Remember again how we have been adopted into God’s family. We are blessed because of the unselfish act of God’s adoption of us.

But the story Paul is telling here with Abram and Sarai is different. And this is why Paul mentions it.

Sarai is impatient and instead of waiting on God, instead of relying on God, instead of trusting in God and His timing, she moves ahead of God and tries to take matters into her own hands.

Abram and Sarai had a promise from God but they were impatient. They moved ahead of God. They moved ahead of God’s plan.

Sometimes, God seems to be slow in the way he handles his plans, but, ultimately His plans and His timing are the best.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Now this verse particularly has to do with repentance. But it also shines light on the nature of God. God is never late. God is never behind. God is right on time and knows exactly what He is doing even when we so desperately need an answer.

When we move ahead of God’s plan, we miss out on a blessing, or, even worse, we reap the consequences of disobeying God.

Interesting that Abraham listened to the voice of Sarai, succumbed to her pressures. He isn’t leading her in the way of the Lord. He is going along with her.

Not that adoption is wrong, it isn’t. It is actually a blessing. Not only are parents given the children they couldn’t have themselves, they are rescuing a child that so desperately needs a family.

Remember again how we have been adopted into God’s family. We are blessed because of the unselfish act of God’s adoption of us.

But the story Paul is telling here with Abram and Sarai is different. Sarai is impatient and instead of waiting on God, she moves ahead of God and tries to take matters into her own hands.

Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary The Birth of Ishmael (16:1–6)

For all this, he had slipped from faith, to be guided by reason and the voice of Sarai (2), not of the Lord (cf. Matt. 16:22f.). The New Testament likens Hagar’s son, ‘born after the flesh’, to the products of self-effort in religion (Gal. 4:22ff.), ever incompatible with those of the spirit (Gal. 4:29

Really they are supposed to just be available. Available for what God has for them.

Abraham and Sarahs position in God’s plan is that they are receivers. They are supposed to just receive, believe, and wait.

But when years go by and Sarai gets impatient. She remembers that promise and wants it so bad that she is willing to do anything to get it.

But Abraham is affected by this too. Specifically because he listens to Sarah’s plan.

There is danger when we listen to other voices. Especially when those voices fly in the face of what God has for us. Anytime someone tries to convince you to fudge a little, or to do something you know God doesn’t want for you to do you need to be very careful. You need to be careful who you listen to. This thing that Sarah is asking her husband to do is sin. God made Abraham a promise and God didn’t need any help.

This is what happened with Adam and Eve. Adam should have been protecting Eve but he just let things play out and he ended up listening to a voice that he shouldn’t have.

And it is a struggle.

We struggle because we have desires. We want those desires met and we want them when we want them. But God has perfect timing.

For Abraham and Sarah, why did it take so long for Isaac to come? We don’t know. But we know God had a purpose. Maybe God’s purpose was that the birth of this child would be beyond any shadow of a doubt the doing of an all powerful creator, God.

Meaning that quite possibly, the longer it takes for Sarah to have this baby adds to the glory that God will get for it. Only by a miracle.

God’s desires are totally clear for us.

Waiting on God gives God more glory. He does the impossible. He really does. I know that everyone here probably has a story about how God did something in your life that was impossible. He is the God of the impossible.

And you will agree that God has done and can do amazing things in your life. And it is true.

But you need to also know this...

There is a penalty for not waiting on God

This should be sobering to us. This should make us really sit back and think. We serve a Holy God. Meaning, perfect. There is no getting around His will, His plan.

There will always be a consequence for not following God’s plan, his best for you. We can’t really run away from God. We can’t sneak something by Him. God is like gravity in that you can’t cheat it. You drop something it falls, you move outside the boundaries of God’s will and there will always be a consequence.

For Abraham and Sarah, they had the child Ishmael through the servant Hagar and it caused pain and strife in the lives of all the parties involved. You see when you work outside of God’s will for your life it will not only affect you but those around you too. There are penalties for not waiting on God.

We miss out on God’s best for us. God has His plan for us which, ultimately, is for our best and for His glory. When we get off of that track then those things God had available for us may not be ours to claim anymore. God’s plan is the best plan for us and we need to hang on to that and not move ahead.

Another consequence to not following God’s plan, in God’s timing is...

We delay God’s purpose in our lives. Sometimes God’s plans for us will still happen but will be delayed because of our impatience. It is possible that what God has for us will be put off to a later time. Another penalty for not waiting on God is that...

We experience disharmony with God And none of us want this. None of us wants to feel far away from God. But when we go our own way, in our own power we aren’t in perfect communion with God. When we trust in God’s plans for us, even when it doesn’t always make sense we don’t have the closeness with God that we could have.

Doesn’t mean you aren’t saved, doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love you. It’s just like in a marriage. There are seasons when you aren’t as close as you would like to be. You are still married, but you aren’t experiencing the intimacy you could. That intimacy needs to be worked on.

God is still your God but when we move outside of His perfect will for us we don’t have the closeness to Him we should have.

James 4:8 ESV

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

John

Our God is always willing to receive you back. His desire is for you to be close to Him. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

We suffer disappointments.

This should be obvious but we don’t always get it through our heads. There will be disappointments when we don’t trust in the Lords plan for us. It is just a fact for us. Many will try to run ahead, many will try to do it on their own thinking that if God isn’t gonna do it I will have to do it myself.

When we take on that perspective we are saying in effect that we know better than God. If we understand that God is a loving Father who has a plan for us, who is literally involved in my day to day life then we can trust that God’s timing is perfect and that we don’t need to help Him along.

Finally, when we don’t wait on God’s perfect timing.

We should expect defeat and destruction

When we run ahead of God’s plan for us we are on our own. There is no protection, there is no provision. You have run ahead of God and you are really on your own

Abraham’s sin with Hagar has resulted in centuries of sorrow and bloodshed, as the descendants of Isaac (the Jews) and Ishmael (the Arabs) have been mortal enemies since Bible days. Mohammed, the father of Islam, is said to have been from the line of Ishmael, which is one reason Muslims claim a right to the Promised Land, Israel. Hagar is a revered woman in Islam since Ishmael is the father of the Arabic people.

It might be hard to imagine but look at this one little thing that Sarah and Abraham did. Could you imagine that this one child out of billions of lives in the world would have the effect on history. This one obscure family who wanted a baby so bad they were willing to do anything.

Again, that wasn’t the problem, it was not trusting in God which caused all the problems.

So have you ever jumped ahead of God? Or away from God?What was that like? Can you look back and see the mistake that it was? What was the result of going ahead of God?

It reminds me of that Jonah series we did a while back. When we get ahead of God by trying to help Him along it never works. There are always consequences which can possibly hurt you for the rest of your own life.

If you have run ahead of God there is always a way back. Always a way back into God’s plan for your life.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

James 4:8 ESV

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Our God is always willing to receive you back. His desire is for you to be close to Him. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

I know we haven’t talked a whole lot about Galatians this morning. But when Paul points these people to this story he is reminding them that you can trust in God’s promise and in God’s timing.

God has made us a promise that when we are saved we are done. We don’t add anything to that. We can rest assured that Christ’s finished work is being lived out in us. Now we live that life out.

There are too many of us who might think that something is wrong because “IT” hasn’t happened yet. I don’t know what your it is today… But hold on to the fact that God’s timing is perfect and that any attempt on us to speed that up just shows that we aren’t believing Him. You can trust Him in His timing. You can trust Him to do what only He is equipped to do.

If you are getting impatient, if you are getting near the end of your rope, please remember that God is in charge. Please ask him to give you strength in the wait and that you will persevere til the end.