My Way or Yahweh?

Now probably the first thing that strikes you is the title. Yes, I know it’s been there before and ironically, it’s written by the same dude again. But if you’ve never seen this title, then read these devos more! Haha jk. But not really. But hey, this title is very fitting for what we are going to dig into these next however-many-minutes you spend reading and reflecting. So let’s get to it!

Read Genesis 16.

Ah, the famous “oops” passage – at least it is for me. So here we have Abram and Sarai, the couple that has been promised by God (Yahweh) to be the ancestors to multitudes of descendants from numerous nations. God clearly promised Abram back at 15:4 that “a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” But apparently that son never came yet…or at least Sarai thought that he never would. So what does she do? At verse 2, she says to Abram to “sleep with my maidservant” and, as a result, an heir would be born. So Abram and Hagar do their thing, and Hagar gets pregnant. Consequently, Hagar is filled with pride – she’s carrying the heir, why wouldn’t she be? – and she starts to lose respect for her mistress, barren Sarai. And you probably know what happens for the rest of the passage. Hagar runs away, meets an angel, is promised to have a son named Ishmael, and then praises God for his omniscient compassion towards her.

Now I was thinking, how does this passage ever relate to me? I’m a guy. Well as simple as I can make it, let me ask you a question. Did Sarai handle her “barrenness” her way or God’s way (Yahweh, get it?) That’s a rhetorical question of course. Genesis 16 speaks of humanity’s lack of faith in God, and how that same lack of faith leads us to do things our own way. Sarai waited long enough for the true heir. She was impatient. Well gosh, she was old! If you were a woman in the mid-80’s and God said to you that you’ll have a glorious son, even when you have never had children before, would you believe it?

Let me rephrase the question. If God said to you one day, that you were going to be CEO of a multibillion dollar business or that you were going to be the doctor that finds the cure for cancer, would you trust His word? See here, these questions are a test of your faith in God Almighty. As Christians, we say, “YEAH Jesus is awesome and I totally believe in Him!” But do we truly believe in Him? Do we truly have faith in Him? I once wrote an essay for my English class last year on what the term faith meant to me personally. I stated that faith, unlike belief, causes action. Belief is simply trust, but faith speaks louder than words – it calls us to test our belief, and for us as Christians, belief in the intangible and invisible.

Are you living your life, knowing that each step you take is made possible through your Creator? Do you have that faith? Or will you throw the white flag and do things your own way? God calls each one of us to be so much more than who we are. All we have to do is have faith, and go all out. Let me end with a corny question (again). Is it your way or Yahweh? Pray to our eternal Friend and Father (capital f’s) and evaluate where you are on your faith-walk with Him.