Abram and Sarai often failed in their “faith.” That’s rather surprising since Abram is known as the example of the faithful. But don’t ever think that his faith never faltered. It did, often! However, one of the major lessons regarding faith in Abram’s life is the lessons that teach us what happens when we fail to trust God. Looking up in faith in God and trusting Him is always the best course of action, even when it seems contrary to wisdom. Herschel Hobbs writes, “A person is not to rely on his or her own understanding or insight. At best, human knowledge is fragmentary. What may seem best to the individual at the moment may not be best in the long haul. Up-sight, not insight, is to be the governing factor of life. Then the person will have no reason to have regrets when viewing life from hindsight.”
Our hindsight is always 20/20. We often find ourselves reflecting on the mistakes we’ve made, wishing for a chance to do things over. It’s a common human experience to see how these mistakes can accumulate and lead to consequences we’d rather avoid. As Alexander Pope wisely observed, ‘To Err is human’ But to ‘make matters worse’ is another human specialty. This is a lesson Abram and Sarai learned the hard way, as their mistakes and their subsequent actions led to a series of unfortunate events.
Genesis 16:1-2 says, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” Sarai gave her maiden, Hagar, to Abram as a sort of surrogate mother. Big mistake! Talk about making matters worse! But it doesn’t stop there. When Hagar does indeed give Abram a son, Ishmael, Sarai makes matters worse by treating Hagar so harshly that she runs away. Notice that neither Abram nor Sarai made any attempt to go after her. This action made matters worse for every generation to follow because Ishmael is to become the father of the Arab nations who will become the permanent enemies of Sarai’s one son, Isaac, and all the descendants to follow. We see this lived out every day in the Mideast. Organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah make it their mission to stand against Isaac’s descendants in any way they can. What a perfect illustration of Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”