Sin and the Consequences of Sin

Just wanted to share because I was blown away. sorry it’s kind of a long rambling though :)

So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. (Genesis 16:2-4 NLT)

I read this and was thinking, how come Sarai was barren but Hagar became pregnant after the first encounter with Abram? Why did God make it so the person who was supposed to bear the child couldn’t, and the person who shouldn’t could? Isn’t that just allowing us to screw ourselves up?? I was thinking what God was trying to teach and show through this and this is what I’ve come up with using my limited imagination.

Sarai sinned by not trusting God’s plans, instead, she took matters into her own hands to get the child she wanted. How many times do we take matters into our own hands against God’s directions? This is what sin is. When we reach out to touch the fire out of our desire and choice, though we were told (out of love) not to.

So Sarai’s sin had consequences in that it added complexity to her once simple marriage. Now Hagar was also in the picture. Since Sarai used Hagar to get the child she really desired, I think that even if God had closed Hagar’s womb and did not allow this ‘sin’ to continue, Sarai may have just moved on from Hagar to another female servant to get what she wanted. I know I am guilty of this in my life. We have a tendency to do anything within our powers to get what we want. Perhaps Sarai would not have been repentant for her bad decision, and instead, remained dissatisfied that she still couldn’t get what she wanted and looked for other methods.

God cared about Sarai’s heart. So instead, Hagar did get pregnant and Sarai’s plans went smoothly as she desired, except everyone in the picture came to realize it sucked. Everyone involved was a little more hurt and dissatisfied as a result.

I believe this is the consequence of sin. Without the visible consequence, sometimes we don’t see or realize of our bad decisions/choices. Without burning our hands, we may not make the connection that maybe touching fire is a bad idea. Sarai had to learn the hard way. God wanted to teach her patience, and to trust in the Lord’s timing, instead of her own timing and manipulations.

What about Hagar? How come she had to suffer because of someone else’s sin? It wasn’t her fault since she was obeying her master. It is true that Hagar can be seen as the victim, and it probably sucked to be unloved by Abram, used by Sarai, and then stuck with an unwanted burden and responsibility (Ishmael). I’m trying to understand what Hagar was supposed to learn through this. Yeah God blessed Ishmael and said he will become the nations too, but if I were Hagar, I wouldn’t care about being the mother of nations. I’d rather not have been forced into this mess!

One thing I can think of is that Hagar had a special encounter with God as a result of this terrible idea. We don’t know whether Hagar knew God before she was introduced in the story, but later in the same chapter, while she was running away (how often do I do that, ha!), when she felt so hopeless and alone, God intervened and showed her hope. Through that special encounter, Hagar met God and resulted in continuing to raise this child Ishmael. God’s promise of Ishmael becoming a nation was fulfilled, and also God turned a terrible and unnecessarily painful experience into one where Hagar found peace and hope.

So, maybe, when I think about all the terrible things going on in this world, more than asking God with a condemning “whyyyyyyy?????”, I should realize it’s because we are Sarai and Hagar. We suffer because we make bad decisions instead of listening/waiting on God and have to suffer consequences to learn from them (Sarai). We also suffer because of other people’s bad decisions, and we may be complete victims – but God lets it happen so that we may encounter him in our hopelessness (Hagar).

I know I have been both Sarai and Hagar in my life, so I can also say that indeed the Lord is good and mighty. Good in the sense he always wants the best for his children – even if it means burning our hands in the short term to teach us to not play with fire. Mighty in the sense that he somehow is able to coordinate all of these lessons and encounters for each and every single one of us…in a way that is relevant for us. I can’t even help myself to think through the consequences of my moment by moment decisions, so I can’t imagine what the infinite wisdom and understanding of God would even look like..

In absolute awe. And I pray that I will trust in HIS goodness and mightiness more, rather than depending on my own understanding!

Proverb 3:5-6…. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.

A to the men amen!!

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