Helping God

Helping God

Bible:Genesis 16:1-16

Reading

[Sarah] said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her” (V.2).

Do you sometimes want to ‘help’ God out? Maybe He’s being a bit slow to answer your prayers and so you start taking matters into your own hands, to nudge Him along . . . God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as countless as the stars and that he would be a dad, despite how old he was (GENESIS 15:1-5). Abraham believed God, but Sarah ran out of patience. She talked Abraham into having kids through her servant Hagar. Ishmael was born, but he wasn’t the son God had promised (17:18-21). Fourteen years later, when Abraham and Sarah were very old, God did the impossible—Sarah conceived and the son of promise, Isaac, was born. I remember someone once telling me: “I was in trouble. I needed to act quickly, but I was totally helpless. Finally I prayed, ‘God, this is impossible for me. You’ll have to take over completely. I can’t even help You!’” She said that God had, in His timing, guided her through the difficulty—but it started with her admitting she was helpless—and giving the situation fully to Him. When we rely on ourselves, people see what we can do and our story is simply, “Didn’t I do well!” When we rely on God, people see what He can do and our story becomes, “Isn’t God awesome!” What story are you telling today?

IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS ARE GOD’S TERRITORY!

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries