Sarai and Hagar

  Our choices sometimes have enormous consequences.  Genesis 16:1-16 tells the story of Sarai and Hagar.  Sarai, an old woman at this point and unsuccessful at bearing her husband Abram a child, gives her slave Hagar to Abram to bear a child in her place.  Sarai made her choice; Hagar the slave had none.  Hagar did as she was told.
  Neither woman appears to be a model of Godliness in this episode.  When Hagar discovers she is pregnant, she gets uppity with Sarai.  Sarai is confronted with the fact that the infertility in her marriage stems from her, not Abram.  No woman wants to have that staring her in the face every day.  And Abram refuses to get caught in the middle.  Sarai treats Hagar so badly that Hagar runs away into the desert even though she is pregnant.
  We each are faced with decisions every day, large and small.  Like Sarai, Hagar and Abram, we face the consequences of those choices.  But what do we do when those consequences are not what we anticipated?  Do we take our frustrations out on others, as Sarai did?  Do we wash our hands of them like Abram?  Or do we run away?
  Let us pray.  God of Sarai, Hagar and Abram, we have made some poor choices in our lives.  We want to fix the damage we have caused.  How do we make amends?

(Your comments are welcome.)

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