Faith and Doubt
Scripture: Genesis 16
Rev. Ho-Ming Tsui

What’s the Bible really about? It is not a story of moral exemplars, but a story about God’s grace intervening in the lives of broken, selfish and ultimately undeserving people.

When God gives us a promise, we have two choices: Wait until we see God’s hands at work, or take matters into your own hands (v. 1-4a)

What makes us take matters into our own hands instead of trusting God? Barrenness (v. 4b-6).

When we seek salvation from our barrenness - apart from God - there are dire consequences:

Blame and Exploitation (Sarai)
Passivity (Abraham)
Pride (Hagar)

What is the alternative? The grace of God

The only way we are free from this enslavement is knowing that we are worth loving - not because of what we do or have - but simply because God loves us. We can wait patiently knowing God loves us — that His timing and His ways are best.

Do you understand that without God, you would have nothing?

Do you understand that with God, you gain everything?

The grace of God intervenes in the lives of the people of this story:

Abraham did nothing. Yet, God was gracious. He reassures him again and again that He will fulfill His promises (Gen. 15, 17).

Sarai was self-righteous. Yet God was gracious. She eventually became pregnant and gave birth to a son. God even renames her and blesses her when announcing the birth of Isaac (Gen 17:15–21).

Hagar was prideful. She and Ishmael were not in the chosen line of God’s redemptive history. And yet God was gracious. He sees their pain and cared for them.

God’s grace is not without effect (v. 7-13)

God’s grace reshapes our identity: Hagar is no longer a slave, but an heir to God’s promise. We will always be a slave to the identity the culture gives to us, unless we are we get a new identity as a child of God.

God’s grace reshapes our perspective. Hagar didn’t have an explanation, she only had a perspective. God’s way might not make sense in the moment, but if you know His plans are good, you can persevere.

God’s grace gives us the confidence to press on. Hagar returned with new confidence. When you see the face of God, you can face anything. He may not let us escape our pain but we can believe he has a redemptive purpose in all things.