Abraham was a man of faith. Nine verses in Hebrews chapter 11 11 are dedicated to Abraham and his faith. The apostle Paul tells us that “those of faith… are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). So God wants us to be like him.But there were times in Abraham’s life when he struggled with faith. And when that happened, Abraham ended up paying a price for the faith that he lacked. When Abraham was 75 years old, God said: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). So, God promised to make Abraham into a great nation – and that meant Abraham had to have children. But he didn’t have any!A few years later, Abraham brought this up to God that he was still childless (Gen. 15:6). God repeated His promise and told Abraham, “You are going to have a son.” And in response to this promise, we’re told that Abraham “believed the LORD (that he’d have a son), and (God) counted it unto him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6).Well a few years later, Abraham and Sarah are getting a lot older. Abraham’s faith seems to weaken and his wife Sarah seem to be tired of waiting. She suggests to Abraham to father a child by her servant, Hagar (Gen. 16:1-2). So Abraham does.Now notice, Abraham never bothered to ask God if HE approved of this plan. I mean, God had made a promise, but God hadn’t come through, so Abraham figured God needed a little help. Abraham’s faith was weakening.But then God fulfilled His promise. Abraham and Sarah had a son named Isaac. The PROMISE had been fulfilled— but now Abraham had a PROBLEM. He had two sons and there was no peace in the house! Ultimately Hagar and her son Ishmael were driven from the house.So we wonder what was the point of this story. I think there are three good reason why this story is important.First, This whole mess started when Abraham’s faith weakened. He knew God’s promises, but instead of waiting on God—he tried fixing the problem his way. But it wasn’t God’s promise. That seems to be a common problem we have. We know God has many precious promises for us, but we can’t seem to wait on God, so we do “it our way.”Second, God always ...
