The first covenant God made was not to destroy the earth with water ever again. The second, was to Abraham. God promised to give him land and descendants as numerous as the dust on the ground and the stars in the sky. We spent the last 2 weeks getting to know Abraham and his wife, Sarah. We’ve seen them at their best and at their worst.
God deemed Abraham righteous because of his faith and then Abraham turned around and lied – not once, but twice – about who his wife was in order to save his own skin.
We heard God listen to Abraham’s prayers of salvation for his nephew, Lot, and saw God show mercy by saving his family, and then Lot’s daughters turned around and slept with him while he was drunk.
We saw Sarah and Abraham get frustrated with God’s timing and take matters into their own hands. Sarah convinced Abraham to sleep with her handmaid, and then watcher her mistreat Hagar once the deed was done. When Hagar fled to the wilderness to escape Sarah’s cruelty, we saw God speak tenderly to her there. Let’s see what happens in Genesis chapter 21.
Reflection Questions
- A birth day for Isaac; a sad goodbye for Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael; a life and death situation for a mother and her son; and deals made around wells…today’s episode had all the feels. What stood out to you today? Did anything surprise you?
- Who do you relate to most in the story? Is it Sarah who spent years waiting for a prayer to be answered and a promise fulfilled? Do you relate more to Hagar – feeling shut out and rejected through no fault of your own? Do you feel like Abraham stuck in the middle in an impossible situation? Or maybe you feel a bit like Abimelech seeing only how God has blessed others?
- Think of how God interacted with each of these people in their stories? How might that pertain to yours?
Sovereign God – We come to you with all of our feelings and situations. Where ever we are, whatever we are doing, and however we feel, will you teach us who you are in the midst of our circumstances? Amen.
References:
Feedback: cwcpodcast@icloud.com
Contact Us: coffeewithchrist.org/contact-me