Genesis 15:14 – 16:6

¹⁴ But I will bring judgment on the nation that they are enslaved in, and after that they will come out with great property.

¹⁵ As for yourself, you will go to where your fathers are in peace; you will be buried having a good gray head.

¹⁶ And they will come back here in the fourth generation, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ When the sun had gone down and it was dark, see, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

¹⁸ On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I promise this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

^16:1 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, “see now, the LORD has kept me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; maybe I will get children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

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.

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

⁵ And Sarai said to Abram, “This is your fault! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with disrespect. May the LORD judge between you and me!”

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “see, your servant is in your power; do to her what you want.” Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she escaped from her.

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Planning for the future

The LORD had promised Abram that a child would come from his own body, so it seemed reasonable to listen to Sarai’s plan. He should have waited and trusted. We tend to make plans and then expect God to bless them, and sometimes he does. But sometimes he allows us to reap the consequences of our impatience. Sarai’s solution turned out to bring terrible consequences on her family and Hagar’s as well. It also affected the relationship she had with Abram. We should be very cautious when making plans.

LORD, give us the insight to know when to plan, and when to wait for your plans to become evident.