Ever have a problem you felt God was not handling, or at least not handling quickly enough? When this happens, we often try to do something logical or reasonable to help the situation along.
This is what Sarai tried to do in Genesis chapter 16. She and her husband Abram were childless and well past child-conceiving age. It made logical sense to Sarai that, if they were going to have a child, they would need to do that through a surrogate. So Sarai offered her female servant to Abram and encouraged him to have a child through her.
But this seemingly “logical” act created a deep animosity that has continued to be adversarial thousands of years later. Just look at the current state of Israeli/Palestinian relations.
When we try to make something happen on our own wisdom and power (apart from the guidance and direction of God,) we wind up making things more complicated and consequential than God ever intended. God will continue to move forward with His plan, but now there’s increased complication, aggravation, or heartache that we have to live with…all brought on by our own attempts to “help.”
As hard as it may be, we must learn to trust and submit to God’s sovereignty and timing in our situations. Unless He has directed us, we must resist the urge to try to help Him do things quicker or better.
Despite how it looks, God really does see what’s going on. He really does hear our fears and frustrations. He really does care about what we’re going through. He’s “got this.” The question is…do we trust Him.
Bret Legg is the Teaching and Counseling Pastor at Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.