Rely on God

Hey y’all!! I hope your week is going amazing!!

Today I am going to break down a story using not only the Old Testament but also the New Testament! It‘s the story of Abraham’s two sons. The original story is in Genesis, but Paul brings the up the story in Galatians to back up a point he is trying to make to the Galatians.

What‘s the point that he is trying to make?

Well I am so glad you asked! He is telling the Galatians to RELY ON GOD, and not themselves.

The Recap

Ok, so you might know the story of Abraham but I am going to do a recap. God had promised that He would provide Abraham with an heir. (Genesis 15:1-6)

But Abraham was old and his wife Sarah was barren. So Sarah suggested that Abraham sleep with her maidservant, Hagar, so they could “build a family through her” (Genesis 16:1-2) Abraham agreed (Genesis 16:4) and Ishmael was born. (Genesis 16:15)

Then, God comes back to Abraham, 14 years years later, and told him his wife would have a son. (Genesis 17:19)

And what do you know...Isaac is born! (Genesis 21:1-3)

Paul’s Teaching:

So, when Paul is writing to the Galatians he is telling them that they no longer have to earn their salvation, that by God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice, salvation is free! They believed in this and rejoiced, but then they slipped back into the trap of relying on their own works instead of what God can do. Can I just say that I love Paul! I mean he uses an Old Testament story to grab people and to teach them about Jesus! It is sooo amazing! Anyway this is what he says:

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭4:22-26‬ ‭

Now what is this saying exactly?

Well, Hagar’ son was born the ordinary way. But, Sarah’s son was born by the result of a promise.

By sleeping with Hagar, Abraham was relying on himself, rather than God. (Galatians 4:23) Don’t we do this? We think we know better or God‘s promises are just taking too long so we take a little short cut. But aren’t the results normally a disaster? I mean just look what happened after Hagar had Ishmael! Sarah got jealous of Hagar so she had Abraham kick her out. See? This was originally Sarah’s plan for Abraham to go to Hagar so she could conceive him a son, but now Sarah doesn’t even want to look at Hagar and Ishmael. (Genesis 21:8-21)

Now the child born by Sarah is an example of relying on God to fulfill his promises. (Galatians 3:23)

My mom wrote a saying on a chalkboard in our house for the longest time and it said, “Trust in the SLOW works of God.” I don’t know about y’all but patience is something I sadly was not blessed with. I don’t like waiting. I am independent, so if someone says they will help me out but they aren’t coming fast enough; I will figure out how to do it by myself. Now, it would have been a WHOLE lot easier to wait for the other person, because normally by the end of doing whatever I am doing by myself; I end up exhausted and it was 10x longer than how long it would have taken with help. If only I had been patient.

God does not work on our time. There is a saying that’s says, “God is a 11:59 God.” So, it may seem like last minute for us but His timing is the perfect timing.

So to sum all of this up, Hagar‘s son represents seeking salvation by works, and Sarah’s son represents relying on salvation by God‘s grace. Sarah is for those that have learned to allow God to save them, and to be patient for His timing, and not relying on ourselves.

Isaiah 54:1

““Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

See? Even Isaiah has something to say about Sarah and Hagar! Those that rely on God even when it looks tough need to still sing and praise him, while trusting in him. For we will rise up and be stronger in our faith than the ones that rely on themselves.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this!! I absolutely was in awe when I read how Paul taught people that we are free in Christ. He truly was a brilliant man! He used the Old Testament to teach people about Jesus, who were going back to the Old Testament ways! It truly is just amazing!

I hope you have an amazing week!! 🌸🌸