The story of Sarah (Sarai) invites us into the deeply human experience of wrestling with God’s promises during seasons of delay. In Genesis 15 and 16, we witness the contrast between Abram’s belief and Sarai’s struggle to wait, revealing the delicate balance between faith and doubt. Sarah, desperate to see God’s promise fulfilled, chose a culturally acceptable but spiritually problematic path. Yet her story reminds us that even in our missteps, God’s promises endure, and His grace remains constant. Through this lesson, we’ll explore what it means to trust God in the waiting and learn how faith is not the absence of doubt, but the choice to rely on God in the midst of it.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram also said, “Since You have given me no son, one who has been born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He credited it to him as righteousness.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a child, but she had an Egyptian slave woman named Hagar; so Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. And so after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave woman, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. Then he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived; and when Hagar became aware that she had conceived, her mistress was insignificant in her sight. So Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I put my slave woman into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was insignificant in her sight. May the Lord judge between you and me.” But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your slave woman is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight.” So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

• God’s Promises Require Patience

• Faith and Doubt Can Coexist

• Taking Matters into Our Own Hands Can Complicate Things

• God Still Honors Our Faith

• God Redeems Our Missteps

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