Genesis 16:3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her. 

In a recent blog post I mentioned Abram’s lack of scruples in dealing with the Egyptians and how God blessed him anyway. In the passage above, Abram’s wife Sarai comes off as petty and jealous, blaming others for the consequences of her own recommendations. Let’s face it, Abram and Sarai have serious issues. Yet, God remains faithful to the covenant he made with them and continues to claim them as his own. Moreover, Abram and Sarai never abandon their hope and expectation that God would eventually fulfill the promises made to them. This trust in the Lord, despite personal moral failings, is what the bible refers to as “righteousness”.

Lord Jesus, forgive us when we stumble and hold us close when we live into the painful consequences of our own plans. Amen.