Truth Matters-10 Desperate Housewife 2

Today on Truth Matters, Dr. Cheryl Davis shares why not waiting on God's will can prove devastating. Here's Dr. Davis on Desperate Housewives, the predicament of Sarah, Abraham's wife. In Genesis chapter 16, now Sarah, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar.

So she said to Abram, the Lord has kept me from having children. Sarah resigned herself to the natural. In the wait, do not resign yourself to the natural. Hold out for the supernatural, no matter how long it takes.

I'm going to say that one more time. Sarah resigned herself to the natural. In the wait, do not resign yourself to the natural.

Hold out for the supernatural, no matter how long it takes. The word resign means to accept that something undesirable cannot be avoided. Sarah assumed because God did not speak to her in her preconceived timeframe that she was not included in the promise. She believed that God had restrained her from children when God never said that.

I am sure in the beginning she assumed that the promise did include her, but over time her doubt crept in. And just like her, we can scheme and analyze ourselves right out of God's plan. What does the Bible tell us about resigning to the natural? Mark 9 23 says, All things are possible to him that believes. Our biggest enemy to belief and obedience is doubt.

I'm going to say that one more time. Our biggest enemy to belief and obedience is doubt. As I'm speaking to you today, I have been tempted myself for the last five years to not hold out for what God has for me. The Lord spoken to my life, and I have put his words on the shelf when my circumstances did not line up with what the Lord said.

When I don't see that it is possible, I have been tempted to walk away and say, Lord, I have waited too long for you. I was this close to giving up, this close to missing what God has for me. But for Sarah, for me, and for you, her blessing, my blessing, and your blessing is so great that she had to believe, I have to believe, and you have to believe. Just in case you catch yourself in disbelief and ready to resign to the natural, I use music to stir up the gift within me, like Paul told Timothy.

Rita Springer sings a song that goes like this. I have to believe that he sees my darkness. I have to believe that he knows my pain. I have to lift my hands to worship, worship his name. I have to declare that he is my refuge. I have to deny that I am alone. I have to lift up my eyes to the mountains. It's where my help comes from. I have to sing praise when the hour is midnight. He unlocks these chains that bind up my soul. That is what the weight can do.

It can bind up your soul and you get stuck. Let's get back to Sarah. In Genesis 16, 2, she says, Go sleep with my maidservant.

Perhaps I can build a family through her. What did Sarah do? She took matters into her own hands. She was disobedient to God, but obedient to the law. In the law, if a woman was barren and could not have children, she could use a surrogate. That surrogate for Sarah was Hagar.

Hagar was a result of Abraham's detour in Egypt. She was a gift from Pharaoh to send Abraham and Sarah out of Egypt. Sarah, in this case, assumed God's responsibilities. Please know your role. Don't assume God's responsibilities. Know your place in all this.

I'm going to say that one more time. Sarah, in this case, assumed God's responsibilities. Know your role. Don't assume God's responsibilities.

Know your place in all this. But you may be saying, Sarah did not do that. She just got impatient and devised a plan to make the promise work.

No, no, no. In verse 2, perhaps I can build a family through her. It was not Sarah's place to build the family. It was God's. That is why from the beginning God said, I will make your name great. God was the I. Sarah was not mentioned. It was God to do the work. Look at her situation. Only God could do the work according to the promise, if you look at her through the natural eye. Has anyone ever taken matters into their own hands?

How did that work for you? I still live with the consequences of my quick decisions and impulses of the past. Grace was well at work even before the cross. Sarah resigned herself to the natural. She assumed God's responsibilities and built a family outside of the will of God. But God had grace. Dr. Davis continues to teach the eternal value of waiting on God in part 3 of Desperate Housewives. That's next week on Truth Matters, a production of The Truth Project.