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[0:00] Genesis chapter 16, verses 1 through 6. Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children.

[0:12] She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.! And Sarai said to Abram, behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.

[0:25] Go into my servant. It may be that I should obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar, the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife.

[0:47] He went into her as she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, may the wrong done to me be on you.

[1:01] I gave my servant 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.

[1:14] But Abram said to Sarai, behold, your servant is in your power. Do to her as you please.

[1:27] Then Sarai dealt harshly with her as she fled from her. That is the word of the Lord. Please be seated.

[1:46] Thank you, praise team. Thank you so much. You know, every year I look forward to this message and I look forward to it with fear and trembling.

[1:56] I do look forward to it, but it always scares me. Because God, I believe, in his providence, says I do something a little different.

[2:09] I don't preach the typical Mother's Day message, nothing against that. I preach what I call my Women's Day message. So it applies to all, if you are a female, this is for you.

[2:23] If you're a daughter, one of my daughters, one of my sisters or one of my mothers, this one is for you. Whether you have children or not, this one is for you.

[2:36] Now guys, you can listen in too. I would encourage you to. It's still the word of the Lord. You can get something out of this. But I will be speaking directly to the ladies. And I told Daniel and Prakash to get the car ready.

[2:52] In case you don't have. Because I'm going to do something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'm not going to quite do what I want to. I want to do a series on sayings that have crept into the church that are not biblical.

[3:08] Here is one of them. There is a popular saying, and a local plumbing company is using it in a commercial. The saying doesn't apply always to motherhood.

[3:26] To mama, in this phrase, speaks of the woman of the house, really. So whether you have children or not, mama is for you. And you know what the saying is.

[3:38] The title of the sermon gave it away. If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

[3:51] As my Jamaican family would say, nobody oppie. Ladies, I know many of you support that saying. And usually with a, that's right.

[4:03] That's right. But you need to know that when men say this, ladies, we don't mean it to be flattering. I'm outing myself.

[4:15] Actually, I don't use this phrase because I hate it. I really, I do. I really hate this phrase. I don't use it. But guys, I always remember the guys who do. It's kind of a tongue in cheek, you know, saying when guys say it, mama ain't happy, you know.

[4:33] You know, mama ain't happy. You know, you get that all the time. Usually it's said with a rolling of the eyes and a smirk, you know. But the saying, but here, let's take the part, let's take apart the saying, ladies.

[4:46] Help me out. And I could be crazy, but help me out. The saying seems to mean that mama's happiness is the goal of the family. If mama ain't happy, nobody happy.

[5:01] So mama's happiness must be the goal of the family. English is my first language, but I'm a little weak sometimes. But that's what I'm getting.

[5:11] And if we fail in this mission, our lives will be miserable. It makes mama out to be a tyrant without necessarily meaning to.

[5:24] But the saying, ladies, I'm not saying you are, but the saying makes mama out to be someone who is demanding and insisting on her way and her happiness at anyone's expense.

[5:39] Now, I can see why women in general in the culture might like this saying. But Christian women might want to rethink it.

[5:53] You might want to rethink it. Mothers and sisters, daughters, the studies continue to show throughout studies in our country.

[6:05] For years gone now, decades, that the happiness of women in this country continues to decrease.

[6:18] Even into the 21st century. Y'all not happy. Now, there are reasons for that. Okay? And some of it men have to take some responsibility for.

[6:32] But not all of it. Now, by unhappiness, I don't mean abuse. Just want to be clear about that because I want to go out here and try to correct me. I want to be clear. I'm not talking about abuse.

[6:43] Abuse should be dealt with right away with the authorities. If you mean, we're not talking about abuse. We're talking about unhappiness. Life hasn't panned out the way you like or the way you planned it.

[6:55] What this means then is that women in this country are pursuing happiness, but it continues to elude so many. But we have to ask the question now.

[7:10] We have to ask the question because we're Christians. What kind of happiness are women pursuing? Or even how are you pursuing it?

[7:24] Maybe it's both. Probably both. So on this Mother's Day, I'd like to ask you those questions. Those two questions. What kind of happiness are you pursuing and how are you pursuing it?

[7:38] So just think with me for a minute. And let's go to our dear mother in Zion, Sarai. This is before her name was changed to Sarah. Okay? So, and actually, Sarai and Sarah mean the same thing.

[7:50] They both mean princess. But when God changed her name to Sarah, he does it in the context of kings coming from her and nation coming from her.

[8:00] So, but right here, she's still Sarai, princess. Now, you know the context, right? God chose a pagan man named Abram who lived in what we now called Iraq.

[8:12] He and his wife Sarai were childless and God promised to bless him with many descendants and that every nation on earth will be blessed through him. God promised him an heir that will come from his own body in chapter 15, verses 3 and 4.

[8:29] From his own body. God actually swore to him. By his own name that he would do that. And in the covenant ceremony that he performed for Abram, God swore and took the curse upon himself.

[8:43] He said to Abram, basically, If I don't keep my word to you, may I be destroyed. That's serious stuff there. Yet in our past, it's ten years have passed since God met Abram.

[8:58] Sarai is past childbearing age, it seems. In Abe's time to engender, a child is running out fast. Where is God's promise? Has he failed to keep it?

[9:11] Have they done something wrong? So let's begin looking at this. First of all, look at Sarah's unhappiness in verse 1. You know, our Declaration of Independence gives us all the ability to prove the right for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

[9:30] It says we've been endowed by our Creator. We have this kind of desire, with this right. In other words, it's a divine right. It's something that's given to all of us to pursue happiness.

[9:43] It's not wrong to pursue happiness. If you're not pursuing happiness, then what are you pursuing? That gets kind of weird. It's human to want to be happy.

[9:59] As you know, for women in the culture where that Sarai lived and Abraham lived, to be childless in that culture was a sign of God's curse, not blessing.

[10:11] We don't believe that today, amen. But that's, I'm talking about that culture. Sarai feels a measure of shame. I want you to get in her heart here. She feels a measure of shame.

[10:23] She has everything she could want. Her husband is wealthy. But he has no heir. And she feels it's her fault. To say that Sarai is unhappy is a gross understatement.

[10:35] She's unhappy and she's depressed. She feels hopeless. In her case, maybe she feels less of a woman. Because happiness for Sarai is having a child that would remove her shame.

[10:51] And now she's in her 60s. And she believes her clock has run out. I'm going to mention this lady's name because her work, I've read several things, but Liz Curtis Higgs' work here was the best I read.

[11:05] In her book, Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible. I love, there's a series of books, I love them all. She says this, Sister, when we stare anxiously at calendars and clocks, rather than turn to God, we're looking in the wrong direction.

[11:23] But what about you ladies? What direction are you looking for your happiness? It may not be a child. We're going bigger than that. It may not be a child.

[11:34] But what are you pursuing for happiness? How would you fill in this blank in your heart and maybe even in your prayers? God, if only I had, I would be truly blank.

[11:48] I would be truly happy and content. God, if only this was different. God, if only that was mine. God, my life would be so much better.

[12:02] I'd be so fulfilled. You wouldn't have to give me anything else, Lord, if you just gave me whatever that is, fill in the blank. Be honest with yourself as you fill in the blank.

[12:16] Because it will tell you what your heart desires most. And ladies, we're all very good. All of us are very good at self-deception. To make ourselves feel good.

[12:27] To make ourselves feel better. We lie to ourselves. But lying to yourself is a very deadly thing to do. You may fool others, but you can't really fool yourself.

[12:40] And by the way, be honest. The Lord already knows. He already knows this in your heart. He knows how you're filling in that blank.

[12:52] Even when you say something else, He knows really how you're filling in the blank. So be honest. Sarah had accompanied Abram from their home in Ur of the Chaldees.

[13:06] Their home and their family. She supported the word of the Lord given to Him. She believed in the promise God had made. But it's been 10 years.

[13:19] 10 years. She's older. And God has not fulfilled His promise. Proverbs 13, 12 says, Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

[13:32] But a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. So much of our depression is because our hope, what we've put our hope in, hasn't come.

[13:46] God is the best psychologist there is, y'all. Hope. Sarai is sad and has lost hope in her having Abraham's heir.

[13:58] Ladies, have you been waiting for God to do something about a situation for a long time? Long time according to your timetable, that is.

[14:11] Because God's timetable, as you know, isn't quite ours. He's outside of time. The Bible says, one day with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.

[14:24] That means to God, everything is present. He doesn't live in past or in future. Everything is present to Him. That's called being eternal. Blows my mind.

[14:38] But for you and me, time is linear. And you're waiting. And you're waiting for God to do something that's important to you.

[14:50] And it's been a while. At first, you waited with a sense of anticipation. Because you believe in God. And you know He means you good. And you know He loves you. And you know you're His child.

[15:02] And so you're waiting with anticipation. God has promised in His Word. Now listen to me. Promised in His Word. Not promised in your heart and your feelings.

[15:13] Promised in His Word. And you're holding on to a promise from God. I hope somebody is. I hope some of you ladies are holding on to the Word of God. And the promise is there.

[15:24] But listen. God will fulfill it in His time. Here's the thing. Has waiting gotten old? God will fulfill it in your heart. Have you just really said, I'm sick of waiting?

[15:41] So unhappiness has set in. So what do you do now? Let's check out sister, mother Sarai. Sarai has a plan to achieve her happiness.

[15:55] Second part of verse 1 all the way into verse 4. So she comes up with a plan. Let me read it again just to make sure you got it. She had a female, and it says it twice.

[16:05] Now watch this. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. Okay, that's who she is. That's who Hagar is. Sarah said to Abram, behold, now the Lord has grieved, has prevented me from bearing children.

[16:16] Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So Abraham, after Abraham had lived 10 years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abraham's wife, Moses is being real clear here.

[16:31] Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar, the Egyptian, her servant, see he's repeating, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife. And he went into Hagar and she conceived.

[16:45] Sarai's plan to improve her happiness, and in her case, remove her shame, was typical wisdom of the ancient Near East of her day.

[16:58] This is cultural wisdom. The primary wife would give a maid servant to her husband as concubine to bear children. Since Hagar was her slave, any children had by her could be claimed by her mistress, in this case, Sarai.

[17:19] Now, this is the first example of surrogate parenting in the Bible. Ian DeGood, wonderful commentators, he says, Children of such unions were normally considered full members of the family inheriting alongside children born to the primary couple.

[17:37] So this stuff was legal. There were laws governing this type of thing. And there were even laws to regulate the relational problems that can come from this.

[17:52] I remember reading some of those. It was really fascinating. So Abraham and Sarai, Abram, excuse me, not Abraham yet, were actually a real-life case study for the law.

[18:03] The problem here is Sarai does not bring her unhappiness to the Lord and leave it with him. Oh, I believe she had been praying. Ladies, she was praying.

[18:14] I have no doubt in my mind that Sarai had been praying about this situation for 10 years. But she had lost the ability to trust it with God, to leave it with God.

[18:29] She just couldn't do that anymore. She's ran out of patience in her mind time.

[18:39] Oh, that she understood what the psalmist would later say. Ladies, you know. Psalm 37, 5 and 7. Commit your way to the Lord.

[18:50] Trust in him. And he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice at the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

[19:01] Oh, that she had that. But you do. See how blessed you are? You have the word of the Lord that she did not have. That meaning, applying that psalm, meaning trusting him by waiting for him to fulfill the promise at his time, at his way, knowing that his clock is more accurate than yours.

[19:27] You know, I'm kind of a clock freak. What I mean by that is I don't like looking at a clock and having to do math to figure out the time. My clocks are set precisely.

[19:42] Okay. Okay. When I look at the clock, it says 10-10. You better believe. Ben, Ben. Big Ben says it's 10-10. Okay. You better believe. It's 10-10.

[19:54] My wife likes to put the clock up, I don't know, how many minutes. And I look at her clock and I know that's not the time.

[20:06] I hate that because then I have to figure out what was her scale. Was it 10 minutes? 15 minutes?

[20:17] 20 minutes? I don't know what time it is. God don't have that problem, ladies. He knows what time it is for you. You don't know what time it is.

[20:32] But Sarai does make a very powerful theological statement here as she thinks about her plan. She's got a, the woman's theology is sharp.

[20:44] She says, behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. That's correct. That's the doctrine that God, that says God is sovereign.

[20:57] That not a hair can fall to the ground apart from him. Our Lord said that. Not a sparrow can fall without him. So that means even the womb is in the hands of the Lord.

[21:08] Sarai's theology, if I say Sarah, don't worry about it. Just go with me because I'm used to calling her Sarah. Sarai, her theology is impeccable. But I wonder, is she merely stating the fact, which will be fine, or is she blaming God for unhappiness?

[21:34] The Lord has prevented me. You see, I think she's blaming God because of what she does next, you know. I think she's blaming God. I think she's saying, the Lord did this to me.

[21:45] Okay. Hmm. Here's something to remember. This came to me. Okay, take it for it as well because it came to me.

[21:57] Don't mistake God's promise to mean that he owes you. Are you with me? I wonder if she felt that God owed, God promised.

[22:13] I wonder if she felt that God owed her. I wonder. Because he said it, so now he got to do it. Now there's faith, right?

[22:23] There's faith. And then there's a sense of, you owe me, do it now. You owe me and I want it now. Don't mistake the promise of God for God owing you.

[22:37] Listen, owing means debt. And God is in nobody's debt. Who's giving to him that he should repay? The Bible says that.

[22:49] I'm quoting Romans 11. At the end of Romans 11. Who's giving to him that he should repay? God is never in your debt. You're in his, ladies. So he don't owe you anything.

[23:00] Anything that he promises you comes through grace. Meaning you don't deserve it and you didn't earn it. It's a gift. And if he wants to hold, he will keep his promise.

[23:12] But if he wants to hold on to the gift for a little while longer, that's his call. Wonderful sermon for Mother's Day, I know. Here's where it gets practical.

[23:30] Will she submit to his sovereignty and trust his plan? Will she do it? It may mean, ladies, you might have to bite your tongue with others.

[23:42] Because, you know, when we feel like we haven't gotten what we think we need and deserve and God has promised, sometimes, you know, we start complaining.

[23:54] That's not everybody. But ladies, I'm talking to you today. Talking to you. It's easy. And, you know, the more, you know what you're doing when you complain? Like, you're destroying your faith.

[24:05] The more you complain about something, the more you are killing your trust in the God. And the more the devil is going, that's right, girl. You know, where he at?

[24:17] How come he hasn't kept, you believe the Bible, right? And it says it right there. How come, what's up with that? He must have been jumping on Sarah's reserve nerve. You know, that's the nerve after the last nerve.

[24:29] He was up and dealing like a thing and she was losing it. And so now she's gotten to the place where she's blaming God. Will she trust God's plan?

[24:48] And the answer is yes and no. I love yes and no answers. Yes, she does believe in God's promise that he gave Abram to have a biological heir.

[25:01] She believes that. But God never said explicitly that a child would come from her womb.

[25:15] That's not in the text. So no. It's the obvious answer, okay? But it's not stated exactly in the passages that we have.

[25:31] So she devises a plan to split a theological heir with the Lord to justify her actions and unbelief. Now here's the crazy thing.

[25:43] It gets crazy, lady. It gets really crazy right here. You can see it. She improved on God's plan. And she got the plan from the surrounding culture. Ladies, for one thing, be wary of improving on God's plan.

[26:00] That's not a good idea. But please don't get the idea from the world. The world has all kinds of advice for you, ladies. The world will tell you how to be happy, how to get a man, how to keep a man, how to raise children.

[26:16] The world will tell you how to get a job and how to keep that and how to make it up the corporate ladder. The world's got all kinds of advice for you. Be wary of listening to the culture, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

[26:35] Will you do what she didn't? Will you repeatedly go to God to keep your heart in the right place?

[26:49] You see, when you're waiting on God, your flesh gets restless. And the enemy will give you all kinds of new ideas. Some ideas will come from your own imagination, some from the culture around you.

[27:02] So it becomes imperative that you keep going to God to remind yourself of his faithfulness. I know I say that every week.

[27:14] And I'm not going to stop saying that. We've got to be in the scriptures. The scriptures reveal God and shows us how God has been faithful with various people throughout the pages.

[27:27] Even Sarai is going to find out how faithful God is. Read, ladies. Open the book. Dive in there. Read it as we say, existentially.

[27:37] Put yourself in the place of these dear folk and watch yourself experience God. Don't never give up on the book.

[27:54] What does Sarai do? She doesn't do it, right? Doesn't trust in God's timing. Instead, Sarai commands her husband to do something about her pain. Baby, I'm happy.

[28:08] Fix it. Kevin Smith translation. When we fail to let God fulfill our dreams, the only place to turn is people.

[28:24] Okay, AI. We'll include AI now. That's bad, by the way. And you will even, listen, I'm not saying you. I'm just saying, I'm just watching, you know, people.

[28:38] You will even manipulate people to get what you want at this point. Sarai says, here is my Egyptian servant, Hagar. Ladies. Ladies. Now, this is that culture, so it's different from our culture, okay?

[28:53] Because today, none of you will say that. Ladies, we don't share, right? Amen. Unless you're one of those crazy folk called swingers, and that's a whole other thing. They nuts.

[29:04] She's willing to share her man to get what she wants. It's interesting that the text mentions that Hagar was Egyptian. Why does it mention she's Egyptian? Why does that even matter?

[29:14] And it says it more than once. It keeps saying, Hagar the Egyptian. Hagar the Egyptian. I got this, I can't say, why? Now, likely she was a woman of color.

[29:25] Amen. They didn't have our sinful hangups with skin color in those days. Likely they got her when they went to Egypt because of famine, and Abram, fearing for his life, told Sarai, who was gorgeous in her 60s, by the way.

[29:43] Ladies, thank you for keeping America beautiful. He told her this, tell them you're my sister because they're going to kill me to take you.

[29:54] He did it twice, by the way, so that tells you where he can get, that man of faith could be a man of doubt, okay? Now, she was his half-sister, by the way. That's another story, guys, so, okay.

[30:07] Pharaoh took Sarai into his harem, but God delivered her. This is back in chapter 12. But Egypt, Egypt in Genesis, is often the place of fruitfulness and plenty.

[30:19] While the promised land, the land of Canaan that Abram's walking through, is often a place of want. Chapter 12, I just mentioned, chapter 12, verse 10. When there was a famine in the land of Canaan, Abram and Sarai go down to Egypt for food.

[30:33] His nephew Lot chose the beautiful area, a big mistake here, of Sodom and Gomorrah to settle in because he said it was like Egypt.

[30:45] Later in Genesis, Israel sends his sons to Egypt to get grain because of famine. You know the whole Joseph story, chapter 42. It seems Egypt is always the place where the grass is greener.

[31:01] Literally. And doesn't Hagar show herself to be Egyptian? She gets pregnant immediately. She bears fruit.

[31:12] Boom. She's ready. Now ladies, yes, we are looking at Sarai here, but I want you to know that Abram bears the greater responsibility and shows the greater failure. Sorry guys, but it's on us.

[31:25] The text says he listened to Sarai. Now listening to his wife is not necessarily wrong. God's going to tell him to do this later.

[31:36] In chapter 21, he's going to tell Abram, listen to your wife. The problem is Abram abdicated his covenantal leadership responsibility to lead his family.

[31:50] And worse, he did not seek the voice of the Lord. He listened to his wife's voice, not the Lord's voice. In that, he's just like Adam.

[32:01] The same thing. And that's, most of us want us to see this, by the way. He's just like Adam. She took Hagar, the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as wife.

[32:23] Be that as it may, the plan was Sarai's way of solving her problem. She's solving her problem.

[32:33] She's not asking God, but she's solving her problem. She's getting it done. She's handling her business.

[32:45] But she's just talking to God about it. God didn't have a problem. He knew what he had promised and how he's going to keep it. Sarai has the problem, and she knows, and she knows how to fix it without God's word.

[33:01] Beware of having it all worked out without going to God's word, or having it worked out if you're married, while stepping on your husband, or having it worked out by stepping on someone else who's in the way.

[33:20] We can fix our problems, ladies. We can do it. We can fix our problems, but sometimes we do it by stepping on people. Get out of my way. Sarai used Hagar as a tool, and that was culturally acceptable, by the way, but it's not in God's kingdom.

[33:40] Again, Sister Higgs, Hagar was the property of her mistress. Hagar could not even call her womb her own. Well, her plan backfires, and now Sarai has a dilemma.

[34:01] And this is what happens, ladies. This is what happens. When God's will or plan is overlooked in favor of your plan, you're going to have problems. Proverbs 16, 9, the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes steps.

[34:14] You may plan your way, but the Lord, he's going to get the steps. Proverbs 19, 21, many other plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. It's better to get in line with his purpose and his plan than to create your own and pray God to bless this mess.

[34:34] God is not bound by our plans. Hagar, sinfully now, begins to look down on Sarai when she becomes pregnant. I can imagine when she started to show that she was wagging that belly in her face.

[34:52] Oh, I feel a Braxton Hicks. What do you think it's going to be? Oh, this is a big boy.

[35:03] Oh, my gosh. Abram, feel this, honey. Feel right there. Feel that. I can imagine she played Sarai like a harp. Girlfriend was, because now she's thinking, listen, she's a servant, and now she's thinking, I'm having the air, so now my stuff, my stock goes up.

[35:25] And Sarai, oh, my, she, I'm sorry, she went, she flipped her hair in Sarai's face, and she was trying to usurp the position.

[35:43] You hear what the Bible says. This is funny. Proverbs 30, 21 and 23. Under three things the earth trembles. Three things. Under four, it cannot bear up. A slave when he becomes king.

[35:55] And a fool when he's filled with food. An unloved woman when she gets a husband. And a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

[36:09] Oh, boy. And that was Hagar. I have done what you could not do.

[36:22] But this is what, this is Sarai's, this is Sarai's plan. God needed her help to move things along.

[36:37] And then she turns around and blames Abram for her dilemma. Again, he does bear the greater responsibility. But it's interesting that she doesn't take responsibility herself.

[36:49] May the wrong done to me be on you. She's treating me like dirt and it's your fault. You know, we, ladies, you know, this is, when our plans go awry, it's easy to blame other people for it.

[37:07] I'm very good at that, by the way. I like the fact that it's always your fault. Okay, this is my wife's fault, but that's another story.

[37:24] I mean, when our plans don't work out, it's like, okay, somebody got to take the blame. You know, that's what it is. Somebody blew it, right? Somebody screwed up, so, but it can't be me.

[37:38] Oh, no. My plan was sound. My plan was genius. It must have been, in case Hercules was her husband.

[37:52] Then she got spiritual and calls upon God. May the Lord judge between you and me. She's calling on God to give her justice because, because, listen, when she feels that Hagar's contempt for her was violent, the guy, the word, that word has the idea of, I don't think Hagar actually struck her, don't get me wrong, but, but, but she feels like that.

[38:23] She feels violated by Hagar. She feels like, you, this person has just, ah, just ripped my heart out and I want justice.

[38:36] Isn't it interesting? When we need God, we want mercy, but when we're mad at somebody, we want justice.

[38:52] Get him, Lord! Lord! That's what she wants. But what's happening here is God's allowing Sarai to experience the pain of her era and will she respond now?

[39:05] This is her, this is her moment. This is it. You got, Sarai, you're right there, baby. Say it. Will you respond in repentance and faith? Ladies, listen, when you mess up, go to God and say, Lord, I blew it.

[39:19] It's me, it's me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer, you know? I messed up. Don't, listen, I don't care if anybody had a hand in it. Abram had a hand in it, but this was her idea.

[39:31] Ladies, if, just, just get on your face and say, Lord, I blew it. I'm taking responsibility. It's okay.

[39:42] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, right? What happens when we don't confess? Now, he will never kick you out of the family, but now, you got to deal with the discipline.

[40:04] Sarai responds in a very different way because Abram fails once again.

[40:20] At this point, Abram said, okay, hold, hold, he says, okay, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, hold, now, baby, I love you, but this was your idea. Hold it now. Let's talk, I bear, listen, I should have said no, but I didn't.

[40:34] But Abram fails again. What does he do? Hey, that's your servant. You do what you want with her. Ain't that his child in there?

[40:47] Ain't that his child? He, he don't even care. He really blew it. He's like, this is your servant. You do, because, why? Because Abraham, Abram was trying to keep peace in the family.

[40:58] I just want peace. And Sarai says, that's all I need to hear. My girl, she put on her shades.

[41:14] She put on her gloves. And she got her baseball bat. And she said, come here, winch, come here. And she treated her harshly. Now watch this, that word, that phrase, treated her harshly, is the same word that's used when Israel was in Egypt.

[41:30] The way the Egyptians treated them. Now I don't know if she hit her. I don't know if she did or not. But she treated her very, very, very, very badly. So, you know, she runs away at that point.

[41:43] That's, that's for another story. You can't go there. She runs away. But do you understand the repercussions of this mess?

[41:56] It's like a soap opera. She has a son named Ishmael. Ishmael. And his descendants would prove to be a thorn in the side of God's people, the Jews at that time.

[42:10] Higgs once again says, if Sarai went into an heir for Abram, this is a good question. I never thought of this. Why didn't she choose someone from her own tribe? By pairing her Hebrew husband with an Egyptian wife, she originated a rivalry which has run in the keenest animosity throughout the ages and which oceans of blood have been quenched, have not been quenched.

[42:33] See, most scholars see Ishmael as the father of the Arab nations. The area that Ishmael settles in, in modern day terms, is Sinai, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

[42:48] Muslims, according to the Quran, see Ishmael as the son that was almost sacrificed, not Isaac, making Ishmael the child of promise, not Isaac.

[43:03] The prophet Muhammad is said to be a descendant of Ishmael. Do you understand the repercussions of her decision and Abraham's failure?

[43:17] generations of trouble for her family, for her people. Well, let's wrap this up.

[43:33] Sarah's hope. the son, there will come a son who will make Sarah completely happy.

[43:45] You see, her greatest hope was in her greater son. She was looking forward to one who would come named Isaac, the child of the promise. God did keep his promise to her.

[43:57] God said, girl, I got you. I told you, I got you. And he gives her a child and they name him Laughter because when she heard that God was going to let her be pregnant, she's cracked up. She was like, my husband is 99 and I'm 90 and I'm going to have pleasure?

[44:15] She's like, well, you're crazy. And she started cracking up. So she left and Isaac was born and Isaac was the desire of her heart and Abram's for that matter.

[44:27] Ishmael had to go, by the way. They kicked him out. Because she made sure of that. She still, she still was not fully happy. Even when she got the promise, she was still not fully happy.

[44:40] She had to kick Hagar and Ishmael out of the family. Be wary of that, ladies. Sometimes, even when you get what you want, you're not going to, you may not be fully happy.

[44:57] So Isaac comes. Abraham is told to sacrifice Isaac as a sign of his true faith in the living God. That will he obey God no matter what?

[45:09] Will, is God his greatest treasure? More than the boy. You know what happened. God stopped him because Abraham, Abraham, at that point, Abraham, he stops him and says, and gives him something else to sacrifice, a ram.

[45:24] Abraham, and, but here's the thing. It was all looking forward. It was all pointing forward. Sarah would have a son, a descendant, that is, who would fulfill her happiness, who would give her everything that she could possibly ever want in her wildest dreams, who would, who would, who would, who would take away her shame, who would take away her guilt, who would take away the animosity in her heart.

[45:48] He would, he would come, there would be one who would, who would not stop when it was time to be sacrificed. He would be sacrificed for her.

[46:00] You see, this is all pointing to Jesus. The great treasure, the great son, the great hope, it's all pointing to Jesus.

[46:14] Do you see it, ladies? He's the ultimate source of happiness. If you find your happiness in him, everything else becomes gravy. He's the beef.

[46:30] Really? You see, I didn't understand this, because she didn't have this revelation, but you do. You do.

[46:43] I'm not saying you shouldn't have dreams and desires. Amen, amen, amen. But what's your greatest dream? Is it to be at God's service and knowing him and loving him and being used for him for his glory and walking with all the days of your life that he might be praised through you?

[47:03] Is that your greatest desire? Is that your greatest joy? Because if it's not, something else is and that thing becomes your idol and it will hurt you. Even if you get it, you won't be happy.

[47:16] once again, my sister Higgs, let's lift the page from Sarai's life and turn it upside down.

[47:34] Depending on God rather than seeking easy solutions, heeding wise counsel rather than charging ahead without counting the cost. She quotes, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, Proverbs 3, 5.

[47:49] Is that you ladies? Will you do that? Will you do that? Will you trust in Jesus? Will you find him to be your greatest joy? Will you find him to be the great treasure of your heart and life?

[48:02] Will you? will you see him who died for you that you might have life and have it abundantly?

[48:14] He wants you to have the abundant life. And it's whatever, it's what he has planned for you. Bring your plans to him but hold them loosely.

[48:27] Submit your plans to the Lord and then look at him and say, but you are my great joy. I would love this. I would love these things and these people, whatever.

[48:38] I would love it. I would love it. If it would please you. That's how we pray. If it would please you, may I have. But Lord, but Lord, if you say no, I have you.

[48:52] I have you. And in you, I will find my greatest satisfaction. Daughters of Sarai, where are you looking for your ultimate happiness?

[49:07] Have you gotten off the path? Have you made a detour? But I want to encourage you. He didn't turn away from Sarai.

[49:18] He didn't leave her to her own devices and let her. He kept his word to her because God is faithful.

[49:28] Even when we are faithless, he is faithful. Hallelujah, somebody. He's not finished with you just as he was not finished with her.

[49:45] He loves you. As Liz Higgs says, he loves you far too much to let you soak in your sinfulness or drown in your guilt. She says this, slightly bad girls we may be, but what a truly good God is he.

[50:03] Be happy in Jesus and everything else becomes gravy. Good gravy, but still gravy.

[50:15] Love you. Happy Mother's Day. Father, bless your people. Bless my mothers, my sisters, and my daughters. Oh God, may they find in Jesus the greatest joy and treasure of their lives.

[50:31] May they seek him whom you sent to be their savior. May they seek him and find in him life, real life, abundant life, true life. and Father, if it would please you, hear their cry.

[50:47] Thank you that your blessings to us include many things that we may ask you for. But Lord, thank you that you will never take away yourself.

[51:00]  You will never abandon us. You will never leave them or forsake them no matter what. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name, Amen.