Sleeping with Hagar

(Posted from Miami)

Sarai seems soooo off-base when she blames Abram for her suffering at the hand of Hagar. After all, SHE was the one who had suggested, recommended even, that her husband sleep with the maid. So where does she get off accusing him now that Hagar is pregnant? It was her own fault, wasn’t it?

I hate to abandon the male clan on this one, but I think Sarai’s right. It was Abram’s fault.

When Sarai suggested sleeping with the maid, what should he have done? Abram should have slowly put down the remote control, looked her straight in the eyes and said, “you don’t have any idea how crazy I am about you, do you?”

Abram made the classic mistake of not understanding what the real conversation was about. He thought his wife was really suggesting he sleep with the maid. For a man 86 years old, it makes you wonder how wise he was, doesn’t it?

Fellows, if your wife ever suggests this to you, please understand this isn’t the real conversation.

The real conversation was, “what’s taking this God of yours so long?” The real challenge was, “Admit it, I was right when I laughed at the door of the tent, wasn’t I?”

Abram gave in to the urge to help God out; to say, “maybe He meant through Hagar I’d have my descendants.” You can see the wheels turning in Abram’s head…after all, the covenant was to him, not to Sarai.

But it wasn’t. Sure, there was spill-over benefit for Ismael, but the covenant was for the offspring of Abram, through Sarai.

It’s easy to say that God didn’t need Abram. But actually He did. He needed Abram to slow down. He needed Abram to not get out his Do-It-Yourself tool box and try to “fix” everything. He needed Abram to put down the remote, look his wife in her eyes, and tell her how dumb her idea was.

Makes me wonder. What does God need me to not do? David Roller

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