Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Do It Yourself Trap

"So she said to Abram, The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her. Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife."
The Sarah Syndrome
Sarah loved Abraham. Her marriage was built not only on love, but on respect and partnership. Where he went she went, not as a shadow, but as a strong influence. By his love and respect for her, we can see that Sarah enjoyed an equality with Abraham that was rare for a woman in her day. But like so many capable women, she developed a set of symptoms that, when left unchecked, only lead to trouble. When we do so, we will find ourselves living with the sour consequence of a do it yourself life and will be lift like this.
1 Impatience.
2 No understanding of divine delay.
3 Jumping to the wrong conclusions.
4 Devising an alternative plan to "help" the promise along.
5 No satisfaction.
6 Complaining.
7 Shifting the blame.
8 Making the best of a bad situation.

Now lets take this and turn it around for the better. Sarah's way of overcoming her do it yourself syndrome.
1 She heard a word from the Lord. (Genesis 18:10)
2 She realized God moves in His time, on His terms, in His way, for His purposes. (Genesis 21:1-2)
3 She submitted to God.
4 She used wisdom in dealing with unbearable situations. (Genesis 21:8-9)
5 She asked for justice. (Genesis 21:10)
6 She experienced freedom/ (Genesis 21:14)
Question for thought:
Name one time when you took things into your own hands and ended up with sour consequences?


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Thank You Sitka