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October 15, 2017 Gen 16 “Hassling with Hagar’s Has Long Term Headaches”

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Walk Thru The Word for Today:

Genesis 16: 1 – 4: (ESV) (Sarah’s Insecurity Schemes A Solution)

1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2And 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 childrena by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.b

Genesis 16: 5 – 9 (ESV) (Sarah Severely Sanctions Hagar Who Hurries Away)

Gen. 16: 5-11 5And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. 7The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

Genesis 16: 10 – 12  (ESV) (ISHMAEL IS INSTITUTED AS AN INSTIGATOR OF TROUBLE )

10The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael,c because the LORD has listened to your affliction. 12He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Walk Thru The Word for Today:  Genesis 16: 13 – 16: (ESV)

(AT AGE 86 ABRAM & HAGAR HAVE ISHMAEL)

13So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”d for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”e 14Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;f it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 15And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Message map:  Genesis 16  (5) “Hassling with Hagar’s Has Long Term Headaches”

Message map:  10-14-17 Genesis 16  “Hassling with Hagar’s Has Long Term Headaches”

Sarah’s Insecurity SCHEMES A Sinful SOLUTION Gen 16:1  (6)

Gen, 16:1 says 1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children,” which means she’s …

  1. Feeling insecure, frustrated and the pressure to get pregnant.
  2. Failing to “name and claim” her fertility.
  3. Figuring to go along with the custom of the day to have her servant raise up a child for her.
  4. Finally going to fulfill though Hagar God’s timing to have a baby.

 Sarah Hoped in Human Help Gen 16:2-3 (7)

After 10 years, Go in to my servant (maidservant); it may be that I shall obtain children by her.”

Sarah’s intention is Hagar would supply the heir, whom … (Write in your answer from the choices below.)

  1. Is the “chosen one” that is the key to the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram.
  2. Sarah would raise as Abram’s child
  3. Along with his biological mother Hagar would be part of the family
  4. Would fulfill the prophecy that Abraham’s offspring would be too numerous to count.
  5. All the above.

As a maidservant, Hagar would’ve been a trusted confidant to Sarah.  The personalities of the maidservant and the mistress would have to mesh for the plan and roles to work well.  At times these servants would almost have an advisory role with their masters.  But they had to be careful not to cross certain lines, which apparently, Hagar did by despising her mistress.

Sarah’s real problem is she is leaning on her own understanding.

Prov. 3: 5-8 5Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. 8It will be healing to your fleshb and refreshmentc to your bones.

Abraham Acquiesces and Goes Astray (8)

10 years after Gen 15 where God performed the “Unconditional Covenant Ceremony” we see in Gen 16: 2-3, Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3, and took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, as a wife because … (fill in your answers from the a-e below.)

  1. After 10 years Abram and Sarah doubt what God said.
  2. After 10 years Abram and Sarah forgot what God said.
  3. Abram was asleep and doesn’t remember the covenant ceremony God performed.
  4. Neither Abram nor Sarah believes she’s going to have a baby.
  5. Abram believed and was considered righteous – so anyway he goes about doing God’s will is going to be okay. (Mal 2:14)

Hagar’s is herded into a Hapless Happening but let’s it go to her head  (9)

Though the childless Sarah is probably in the same pain Hannah’ expresses in 1Sam 1, she should pray like Hannah, and not take matters into her own hands.

Sarah wants god to judge Abram & Justify her (10)

Gen. 16: 5 5 Sarah wants God to May the LORD judge (decide this controversy) between you and me!”  Because she is blaming Abram for the poor outcome, and wants permission to deal harshly with Hagar.  Basically, Abram says, Hagar still is a slave, do with her what you wish.

Prove 19: 3 (NLT) People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.

Polygamy presents perpetual problems (11)

Gen. 16: 5 – Though Abram actually did marry Hagar, we see “doing the wrong thing in the right way” still is polygamy that provides perpetual problems, because it’s … polygamy presents perpetual problems

Re: Balaam whose story runs from Numbers 22 – 24, Barnes says: Balaam the son of Beor was from the first a worshipper in some sort of the true God; and had learned some elements of pure and true religion in his home in the far East, the cradle of the ancestors of Israel. But though prophesying, doubtless even before the ambassadors of Balak came to him, in the name of the true God, yet prophecy was still to him as before a mere business, not a religion. The summons of Balak proved to be a crisis in his career: and he failed under the trial. When the gold and honors of Balak seemed to be finally lost, he became reckless and desperate; and, as if in defiance, counseled the evil stratagem by which he hoped to compass indirectly that ruin of God’s people which he had been withheld from working otherwise. He thus, like Judas and Ahithophel, set in motion a train of events which involved his own destruction.

It is curious to note that in Numbers 24: 14, Balaam tells Moab King Balak, “Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days. What may be unspoken is that Balaam, who lusted for worldly gain, may have provided some instruction to Balak about how to compromise Israel in the meantime before the latter days, because in Numbers 25: 1-9 The people of Israel consort with the Moabites and worship Baal of Peor, and God strikes dead 24,000 Israelites.

Numbers 25: 1While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”[bctt tweet=”Gen. 16: 5 – Though Abram actually did marry Hagar, we see “doing the wrong thing in the right way” still is polygamy that provides perpetual problems, because it’s” username=”LibertyCF3″]

6And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

 1 Kings 11: Because Solomon Disobeyed & Married Foreign Wives, God Raised Up Rivals/ Adversaries 1Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. 7Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. (The unholy alliances)

The LORD Raises Adversaries (These rivals to the Israeli throne come from the royal families into which Solomon married. 

9And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. 11Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”

14And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Had ad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. 15For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom 16(for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). 17But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father’s servants, Hadad still being a little child. 18They set out from Midian and came to Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh King of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. 19And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” 22But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

23God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band, after the killing by David. And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. 25He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria.

26Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. 27And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the Millo, and closed up the breach of the city of David his father. 28The man Jeroboam was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment, and the two of them were alone in the open country. 30Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes 32(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), 33because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. 34Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. 35But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. 36Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. 37And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’” 40Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

God Saves us But Our Carnal Solutions Have Long term Consequences  (12)

God saves us, but our carnal decisions and solutions have long term Consequences (outcomes).  Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25 There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

We must be careful making decisions, because each one potentially births either an Isaac (child of God’s promise or an Ishmael (a child of our human understanding- the offspring of “My will for God”).

  1. Trusting God means He always makes us wait too long!
  2. Nothing we do matters because God will fix it.
  3. It doesn’t matter if we involve a Hagar in our mess.
  4. Every choice we make either births an Ishmael or an Issac

Ishmael Is Going To Be An Irritating Instigator

Gen 16: 11-13 You shall call his name Ishmael,c because the LORD has listened to your affliction. 12He shall be a wild (willfully rude) donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

This prophesy indicates …

  1. Ishmael’s descendants will have a value system that motivates them to be at odds/contentious with others.
  2. Ishmael’s descendants will think thoughts that make them feel contentious, and lack the peace Christ gives – but all people lack this.
  3. Ishmael’s descendants will develop philosophies that make them feel justified in being contentious.

Wesley – 16:12 He will be a wild man – A wild ass of a man, so the word is: rude, and bold and fearing no man; untamed, intractable (not yielding to discipline; stubborn; indocile; ungovernable), living at large, and impatient of service and restraint. His hand will be against every man – That is his sin, and every man’s hand against him – That is his punishment. Note, those that have turbulent spirits have commonly troublesome lives: they that are provoking, and injurious to others, must expect to be repaid in their own coin. And yet, he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren – Though threatened and insulted by all his neighbours, yet he shall keep his ground, and, for Abram’s sake more than his own, shall be able to make his part good with them. Accordingly we read, Gen 25:18 that he died, as he lived, in the presence of all his brethren.

As sinners, we all have Ishmaelite tendencies. “Ich bin ein Ishmaelite.

Side Bar: JFK Showed He Identified with the plight of Berliners during the cold war by proclaiming  “Ich Bin Ein Berliner Ishmaelite (14)

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/08/the-real-meaning-of-ich-bin-ein-berliner/309500/

The director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum tells the evocative story behind JFK’s words.

Speaking of the liberation from sin that we all deeply crave …

On June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy went to West Berlin and delivered his most eloquent speech on the world stage.  To identify with the plight of the East Berliners who were forcibly held captive under Communist enslavement, and the plight of their relatives and countryman in West Berlin, Kennedy proclaimed, “Ich bin ein Berliner!”

These words, delivered against the geopolitical backdrop of the Berlin Wall, were the American President’s defiant defense of Republican government under a Constitution that cooperates with God to secure the inalienable rights He gives “we the people” which includes democratically electing our leaders. In eloquent defense of government by the people and for the people, Kennedy contrasted life under communist enslavement in East Berlin with life under the Biblical-based Christianized freedom the Western World enjoys, which was represented by West Berlin.

To appreciate their impact, one must understand the history. After World War II, the capital of Hitler’s Third Reich was divided, like Germany itself, between the communist East and the democratic West side. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev described West Berlin, surrounded on all sides by East Germany, as “a bone in my throat” and vowed to “eradicate this splinter from the heart of Europe.”  Kennedy was concerned that any future European conflict, with the potential for nuclear war, would be sparked by Berlin.

At their summit meeting in Vienna in the spring of 1961, Khrushchev warned Kennedy that he would sign a treaty with East Germany restricting Western access to West Berlin. In response, Kennedy announced a major military buildup. In a television address to the nation on July 25, 1961, he described the embattled city as “the great testing place of Western courage and will” and declared that any attack on West Berlin would be viewed as an attack on the United States.

The speech had its desired effect. Khrushchev backed down from signing the treaty, even as thousands of East Germans continued crossing into West Berlin in search of freedom. In the early morning of August 13, 1961, the East German government, with Soviet support, sought to put this problem to rest, by building a wall of barbed wire across the heart of Berlin.

Tensions had abated slightly by the time Kennedy arrived for a state visit almost two years later. But the wall, an aesthetic and moral monstrosity now made mainly of concrete, remained. Deeply moved by the crowds that had welcomed him in Bonn and Frankfurt, JFK was overwhelmed by the throngs of West Berliners, who put a human face on an issue he had previously seen only in strategic terms. When he viewed the wall itself, and the barrenness of East Berlin on the other side, his expression turned grim.

Emboldened by the moment and buoyed by the adoring crowd, he delivered one of the most inspiring speeches of his presidency. “Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was ‘Civis Romanus sum,’ ” [which means “I am a citizen of Rome.”] He proclaimed. “Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ ”

With a masterly cadence, he presented a series of devastating critiques of life under communism:

There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the communist world. Let them come to Berlin … There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin … And there are even a few who say that it’s true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lasst sie nach Berlin kommen— let them come to Berlin! 

Kennedy cast a spotlight on West Berlin as an outpost of freedom and on the Berlin Wall as the communist world’s mark of evil. “Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect,” he stated, “but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in.” He confidently predicted that, in time, the wall would fall, Germany would reunite, and democracy would spread throughout Eastern Europe.

Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” meant ‘freedom continually is under attack by those who would enslave us as the East Berliners then were enslaved. Those living free in West Berlin, must ever be vigilant to protect their freedom from those who seek to enslave them.”

In like manner spiritually, all of us are born under the enslavement of sin and law. If we fail to receive The Grace and Forgiveness God offers thru Christ, we then must labor under the impossible demands of the law.  In like manner, we all are like Ishmael, trapped in the curse of our sinful human natures.  (Next slide – Ich Bin Ein Ishmaelite

The words rang true not only for the hundreds of thousands of people who were there but also for the millions around the world who saw the speech captured on film. Viewing the video today, one still sees a young statesman—in the prime of his life and his presidency—expressing an essential truth that runs throughout human history: the desire for liberty and self-gov’t.

At the climax of his speech, the American leader identified himself with the inhabitants of the besieged city:

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe.

His conclusion linked him eternally to his listeners and to their cause: “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner.”

Ishmael is gathered to his godly people (15)

All of us are Ishmaelites trapped in sinful human nature that takes on many, many expressions. Rom 3:23   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Gen 25:17 & 17:20-23, we conclude Ishmael was saved! … He dies at age137, Ishmael breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people” which means …

Of the expression, “gathered to his people,” Barnes says, To be gathered is not to cease to exist, but to continue existing in another sphere. His peoples, the departed families, from whom he is descended, are still in being in another not less real world. This, and the like expression in the passage quoted, give the first fact in the history of the soul after death, as the burial is the first step in that of the body.

Hagar must return & Submit — She must repent & Quit Rebelling & Resisting in her pride and self-will (17)

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, “Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.”

God sent Hagar back to submit (To yield, resign or surrender to the power, will or authority of another) which requires …

  1. Confronting the challenging (less than fair) circumstances into which she was thrust
  2. Humbly bearing up under the affliction of an oppressor, who is trying to silence her (even though Hagar instigated it).
  3. Conforming to 1Pet 2:18 18Servants, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but even to those who are unreasonable. (BSB)
  4. Trusting God to deal with your Sarai’s who are mistreating you. We must look to God to make peace even though we instigated the trial, and made bad circumstances even worse and brought it upon ourselves.

The Bible tells us that submission is a way of life. Everybody is in submission to some else.

Abraham Responsibility Was to respond by Waiting the Right way (18)

Abram’s responsibility to Sarah’s solution is to …

  1. Seeking counsel from Eliezer of Damascus, his trusted servant and 2nd in command
  2. Encouraging Sarah to be patient
  3. Checking in with God for confirmation
  4. Holding Hagar Harmless by not sinning with her.

The challenge with waiting is …

  1. We are impatient (so waiting forces growth in patience, which our human condition wants to avoid.)
  2. We think God has forgotten us
  3. We feel unfulfilled
  4. We feel like we aren’t doing anything – making progress or moving toward a goal.

 They That Wait Upon The Lord Isaiah 40:31 (19)

Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait (stay or rest in expectation) for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

God must the object of our waiting.  To attend to one by performing the duties of an office as in Aaron and his sons shall wait on their priest’s office. Numbers 3:10,10And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood.

Isaiah 40:31 but they who wait (stay or rest in expectation) for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

The giver is more than the gift; God is more than the blessing;

God must the object of our waiting.  To attend to one by performing the duties of an office.

Numbers 3:10 Aaron and his sons shall wait on their priests office.

Romans 12:6-8 shows us how to “Wait” on God by serving with what He gives us. 6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,f with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Ps 84: 5-7; 5Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.b…

7They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

They That Wait Will be rewarded (20)

Andrew Murray — “Waiting on god says: True patience (enduring hardship & inconvenience with a calm, unruffled temper, without discontent, murmuring or fretfulness) is the losing of our self-will in His perfect will..

if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious. God waited four thousand years, until the fullness of time, before He sent His Son: our times are in His hands: He will avenge His elect speedily:

He will make haste for our help, and not delay one hour too long.

True patience is so foreign to our self-confident nature.   Self-Confidence = feeling or showing certainty in our own strength or powers; relying on the correctness of our own judgement, or the competence of our own powers, without God’s aid.  True patience is letting go of our self-will to trust in His perfect will. “Patient waiting upon God brings a rich reward; the deliverance is sure; God Himself will put a new song into your mouth.”

Sara had to wait, despite her schemes: Genesis 21:6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over [with] me.” Isaac’s name means “Laughter.”  The name Isaac (Yitschaq) means “he laughs” is a play on the Hebrew word “tsachaq” which means “laughter.”

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