Genesis 16

There were no roller coasters in Abram's day, which makes me wonder what kind of metaphor he might have used to describe his relationship with God.

In Genesis 15 his covenant with God was formalized and he was promised everything a 20th-century (BC) man could want.  He was closer to 00 and possibly more terrified of -- God than ever before.  Yet here in chapter 16 he once again takes matters into his own hands ... in a matter of speaking.

I wonder how much his wife Sarai actually understood about his relationship with God.  It's not uncommon for a man called to ministry today to find that his wife is a lot slower to get on board.  In Abram's case, she'd already followed him around the world, leaving everything and everyone she knew.  She'd gone along with his "say you're my sister" plan in Egypt (and would again with Abimelech).  But the idea of giving birth to his child must have been a little more than she could believe, so she decided to help God out.

Funny thing is, God doesn't need help.  Thinking he does is going right back to that same old idolatry of thinking we know better than God does, and it never has the desired result.

God knew what he was doing.  Abram was starting to understand that, though he still found it hard to trust God fully.  Sarai would have to learn it as well.  Hagar, though, seemed to grasp it before either of them.