Sarah
When We Try and Play God
Introduction
A. When your planning something big you think of every possible scenario
B. You think if this happens then we will use plan a
C. If this happens and this happens we will go with plan b
D. But if this happens and this happens plan c
E. Sarah like to come up these type ideas
F. She would think of different plans to achiever her goal
G. However, some of those plans were more that just plans that did not work. They were wrong
H. Today we are going to look at one particular event in Sarah’s life (unfortunately we do not have time to look at her entire life)
I. We are going to look at the different plans Sarah used
J. We have to remember that this all started in 15:4 the Lord told Abram that he would give him a son
K. When God told him that he went to his wife and told her everything that happen
L. His wife probably wanted to laugh at him
M. Think about she is 80 some years old
N. But in the back of her mind I am sure that she wanted that kid
O. She wanted her husband to have a son
P. But she is just too old
Q. So Sarah thinks about it for a while
R. She comes up with Plan A.
I. Plan A – Get husband to sleep with servant (16:1-4a)
A. Explanation
1. (Read 16:1-4)
2. Here is what Sarah Figured
3. She knew that God had told her husband he would have a kid
4. She also thought that there was no way this old lady would be able to have a kid
5. So she came up with Plan “A” Tell my husband to sleep with my servant
6. This way her husband could have a kid
7. Then she also figured since it was her servant she could take the kid
8. That would solve everything
9. Surely that is what God had intended right?
10. Logically think it through if God promised a kid, she could not have a kid, a servant to have the kid would make the most sense
B. Application
1. Ok, let stop and think for a second, how can we apply this bizarre story to our lives?
2. God mad a promise to Abraham and Abraham told Sarah, You Following me?
3. Sarah then figured out a way to be God.
4. That is were we run into problems
5. God promises us or someone else something and we try to do His work
6. We figure that we should just help God out
7. Now the worse part is sometimes we practice sin trying to do work
C. Illustration
1. Imagine with me for a second. Bakerstown Alliance Church, you know with an extra Million Dollars we could do some pretty special things. God tells us not to store riches up here on earth right? God wants us to minister to the community right? However, due to our lack of finical resources we are limited right? (that one might be debatable). Ok lets put these ideas together and see what we come up with. I figured it out. We should rob a bank! They are storing up riches on earth. All Money is God’s money right? Imagine the ministry that we would be able to do with the money we get from robbing the bank!
2. That is a bit humorous I know but that is what we do when we try and play God
3. When rather then practicing prayer, perseverance, and patience.
4. We practice sin
5. Do not try to be God, God is God and you are not!
6. wait on his timing not your timing
7. Plan “A” did not go that well did it, Time for Plan “B”
II. Plan B – Get Rid of servant (16:4b-16:16)
A. Explanation
1. (Read 4b-16)
2. So her plan is not working right
3. She despises her servant and then yells at her husband (I will refrain from any further comments there)
4. Tells Abraham that it is all her fault
5. Abraham then says “hey I just did what I was told, You do whatever you think is best”
6. Sarah filled with rage, jealousy, and bitterness begins to mistreat her servant
7. Begins making her work 24 hours a days, calls her bad names, makes fund of her and so on
8. Hagar then runs ways
9. Fortunately the Lord is there to comfort her
10. And she has Abraham Kid, Abraham was 86 years old at the times
B. Application
1. What does Plan B have to do with our lives?
2. When we walk away from God
3. When we do not follow His plans
4. When we go out on our own
5. We end up just like Sarah
6. Miserable, jealous, bitter, depressed, defeated and so on
C. Illustration
1. I have met some really sad people over the years. You want to know who is the saddest of all. The ones who walked away from God’s plan. One person I met felt called to be a pastor, well he is not, and you could just tell he regretted that decisions. At the Lighthouse I met a lot of people who used to be on fire for the Lord, and turned their back’s to God, they are miserable
2. Not following God’s plan does not bring joy
3. Not following God’s command brings only Misery, jealousy, bitterness, depression so on
4. If God has told you his plan, don’t follow your own
5. In the end God’s plan will be better
6. Plan B did not work. Time for Pan C
III. Plan C – When all else fails refer to the Lord’s Plan (21:1-7)
A. Explanation
1. (Read 21:1-7)
2. By this time, keeping in mind how much pain must have been involved, Sarah probably gave up on the idea of having a kid
3. Think about Sarah is in her 90’s
4. Abraham was pushing 100
5. I don’t know about you, but I would bet against them having a kid
6. however, the Lord was gracious to Sarah! She became pregnant
7. I am sure they were excited! Notice what they called him, Isaac.
8. Once again names do not mean that much to us, but they did back then
9. Isaac means “He laughs” They called him that because there were amazed and filled with joy the only thing they could do it laugh
10. Its one on those stories that the only way to respond is with joy and laughter
B. Application
1. So what does this have to do with our lives?
2. Did the Lord make a promise with Abraham and Sarah? YES
3. Did the Lord ever break his Promise with Abraham and Sarah? NO
4. Does the Lord make promises with us today? Yes
5. Has the Lord ever broken his Promise with us? NO
6. The key is to wait on God’s timing
7. Sure you would like to have things your way
8. Sure you would like to have everything right now
9. Patience is needed
10. God was faithful and will always be faithful
C. Illustration
1. Life is kind of like the old game show “Let’s make a deal” In lets make a deal the host would say If you give me this, I will give you that. Now that hard part is that you did not know what was behind the curtain, in the box, or behind his back. You had to guess. Sometimes what you had was better then what he was offering, other times you definitely wanted what he was offering, you did not know.
2. Here is the thing though, you know what the Lord will do, you know that he will be faithful and live up to everyone of his promises
3. Some of the offers might look appealing to you at the time
4. But they are not as good as what the Lord offers
5. Trust me
6. Follow God’s plan and you will receive everything he promises
Conclusion
A. As we looked at Sarah’s life the sad part is that there is so much more to look at
a. I encourage you to read more about her and Abraham’s life.
b. Fascinating stories
B. Sarah eventually figured it out and was rewarded
C. The question then becomes what plan are you following
a. Has God promised you something and you want it already and are trying to play God?
b. Are you down and out because you are not following right course?
c. Or have you finally got to the point were you are willing to say Lord do it your way?
D. If you are struggling with any of these come up to the front and let it go and Let God!
E. Sarah was not a happy camper until she got to plan c
F. The reality of the situation is you can not be a happy camper unless you are following plan c.
