Genesis 21:1-21: Worth the Wait

Introduction

https://medium.com/caus/the-issue-at-houston-airport-occupied-time-design-542b092b3747

We don’t like waiting, but we spend a lot of time waiting.

Christian faith: a lot of waiting. Waiting on God to grow us - change doesn’t come fast. Waiting on God to answer prayers, to work in our lives, etc. Waiting on God to fix our problems.

God’s timing is not our timing, but God’s timing is perfect.

Gen. 21 - for Abe and Sarah the wait is over. Twenty-five years after being called to leave everything Abe and Sarah finally give birth to the child of promise. 25 YEARS!

How are you at waiting? Abe and Sarah weren’t very good at waiting. Neither are you.

We forget that often God does His best work in our lives in seasons of waiting. Waiting time is never wasted time.

Two lessons God wants to teach you while you wait.

God’s promises are always worth the wait.

vs. 1 - The Lord did what He said He would do. He did for Sarah what He had promised.

A long time coming - 25 years! Abraham 100 years old and Sarah 90 years old.

Why did God make Abe and Sarah wait so long? Don’t know all of God’s reasons BUT there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was a miraculous birth! Only God can open up the womb of a 90 year old woman!

God wanted Abe, Sarah, and everyone to say, “Look at what God has done!”

Abe circumcised Isaac - symbol - seed coming through Isaac… God was building His nation through Abe.

Isaac = laughter. A year earlier she laughed in cynicism. Now she laughed in joy. God asked, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” (18:14) Now, Sarah knows nothing is too wonderful for the Lord.

“Everyone will laugh with me...” NOT “laugh at me...” But, share her joy… Why wouldn’t they? The sight of a 90 year old mother? How does that happen? A 90 year-old woman nursing an infant? Ha! Only God…

Sarah had a story to tell (so do you) - a story of God’s miraculous, gracious power at work in her life.

At 90 years old, holding her newborn baby, God fulfilled His promise to Abe and Sarah, and they would have said God’s promises are worth waiting for.

But… think about Abe and Sarah getting to this point. Think of all the missteps, the impatience.

If God’s promises are certain, why are we so impatient? The destination is more important to us than the journey. Getting what we want from God is more important to us than the transformation God wants to do in our lives as we wait for the fulfillment of His promises. For God, the journey He has us on is just as important as the destination.

Because we fail to embrace the journey of faith:

We get anxious - Abe did. First sign of trouble they fled to Egypt. You’re there… constantly anxious… not believing God

We question/doubt God - Abe wanted to make his servant his heir… They both laughed when God said, “In a year...”

We take matters into our own hands… Abe and Sarah thought they were doing God’s will when they brought Hagar into the home…

We hurt people… The story of Hagar is heartbreaking… a woman essentially used and abused so Abe and Sarah could get what they wanted. Who have you used and abused to get what you want?

How do I embrace the journey of faith?

Know that God’s way is different than your way (Is. 55:8-9). He knows what’s best. He sees what you can’t see. He knows what you don’t know.

Know that the long way is the best way. American way is the fast way, but that’s not God’s way. YEARS for God to accomplish His purpose in your life. God’s work in your is a lifelong process.

Know that the journey requires commitment… obedience, holiness, committed to God’s work… Work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Ph. 2:12) While you wait, serve. While you wait, worship. While you wait, obey. While you wait, get to know the God who loves you.

Tubing - Luke and Hudson - both on the journey - one embraced - one wanted it to be over…

God’s plan is far better than what you’ve settled for.

Isaac - the child God promised… But, there was a problem… Ishmael… the child they settled for.

Ishmael - Abe and Sarah doing what they had to do to get what they wanted - the result of not waiting on the Lord and trusting Him.

CREATES CONFLICT - Conflict in Abe’s heart - would he trust God? Conflict in the home. Ishmael between 13 - 16. Rough years for Sarah. Wasn’t her child. Hagar in the home - she fled, but God told her to go back.

Now Abe’s home two children: a teenager born to him by his mistress and the baby God promised him twenty-five years earlier.

When Isaac was weaned - a party. Infant mortality rate was high - nursed him as long as possible. At two or three, weaned. Often, parents wouldn’t name children until they were weaned.

Ishmael ruins the party. He mocks Isaac. Sarah laughed with joy as she held her son. Ishmael laughed with scorn as he looked at this toddler.

Sarah saw Ishmael for what he was: a threat. Ishmael saw his favored position and inheritance slipping away…

vs. 10 - Sarah to Abe: “Drive him out. He will not be a coheir.”

Abe distressed. Until Isaac was born Abe had settled in his mind that Ishmael was the child of the promise.

Conflict - conflict with Sarah and Hagar. Conflict in Abe’s own heart. He loved Ishmael, and Sarah wanted him gone.

God speaks. “Do what Sarah says...”

What? Send his son Ishmael away? Why? After all, hadn’t God told Hagar to go back to Abe’s house 13 years earlier? Why the change?

Ishmael was not God’s plan. (vs. 12: because…) Ishmael was Abe and Sarah’s plan. Ishmael opposed God’s plan. Can you imagine the conflict that would have arisen between Isaac and Ishmael if Ishmael would have stayed in the home?

God’s plan much bigger than a 90 year-old woman having a baby and much bigger than Isaac simply being an heir to Abe’s fortunes. God’s plan was the salvation of the world through the nation he was going to build through Isaac - God wanted nothing to stand in the way of His plan.

The pain sin had caused - for years Abe settled for what wasn’t God’s plan. The pain of letting go of what Abe had settled for.

Galatians 4:22: “But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise.”

But… God tells Abe that he would take care of Ishmael.

Abe sends Hagar and Ishmael off with a little food and a little water. They wander. How long? It seemed hopeless. Sent off by her master - had such hope - thought her son would be an heir but now left to die.

Out of water. Out of food. Wandering. Watching her son die. She walks away from her boy and cries…

It was such a mess… years of conflict and pain in Abe’s house. God hears her cry. “Don’t be afraid… Help your son… I will make him a great nation...”

She looks up and sees a well - God put it there. The boy grew up, settled, became an archer, and married an Egyptian woman. God was merciful and gracious to Hagar and Ishmael. God was merciful and gracious to Abe and Sarah. God is gracious and merciful to you.

God fulfills His promise. In His time, and in His way, but He does. He’s fulfilled His promise to you:

Gen. 3:15 - Promise coming through Isaac - a great nation - to bless the world.

"For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34) Adam and Eve sinned, Abraham and Sarah sinned, Hagar and Ishmael sinned, but God was making a way to treat Adam and Eve and us as if the failure in the garden never happened.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) He never left Adam and Eve… He never left Abe and Sarah… He never left Hagar and Ishmael. He never leaves you. Abe’s journey of faith is not the story of Abe’s faithfulness. It’s the story of God’s faithfulness. Everyone of us will get to the end of our lives and say, “I wish I would have been more faithful to God,” but none of us will say “I wish God would have been more faithful to me.” Instead you’ll say, “God has been faithful in spite of my unfaithfulness.”

God fixes our messes.

Abe, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael - the whole story is one big mess. But, God is there, at work, fulfilling His promise in spite of the mess that Abe and Sarah made.

You feel like your life is a mess. You look at Abe and Sarah and think, “Yup… their mess isn’t as big as my mess.” Good news: God is all about fixing our messes.

By sending His Son - the promised One - who took the punishment for our sins upon Himself and then rose from the dead. Who gives us new life - promises us eternal, resurrected life that will be free from messes. Believe in the One who can give new life.

Believe in the ONE who can change your life NOW. The One who places His Spirit in you to empower you to walk in wisdom. Who empowers you to live out His will.

You have to stop settling.

Abe messes up over and over again, but Abe also acts in faith over and over again. He does what God says. Even though it was painful, he let go. He let go of what he settled for trusting that God knew best.

Problem for many: you’ve settled for the mess. You know God has better, but you’ve grown to love the mess you’ve made. You’ve grown to love what the flesh has produced rather than embracing what the Spirit wants to produce in you.

Stop settling and take a step of faith.

Stop settling for a struggling marriage - take a step of faith. Get some Christian counseling and work on your marriage.

Stop settling for broken relationships - take a step of faith. Forgive that person who hurt you.

Stop settling for mediocrity in your career. Work hard. Give it your best. Live for Jesus before your coworkers.

Stop settling for that sinful habit that keeps weighing you down. Confess it and repent.

Stop settling for always being anger and bitter. Confess it! Repent. Choose joy. Choose to see God at work.

Stop settling for constantly telling God “No” when He calls you to live on mission. Say yes! Share the Gospel this week.

Stop settling because you believe in the God who is faithful to fulfill His promises to you, who fixes what you mess up, and who is constantly at work in your life in ways that you can’t even comprehend.