And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the Angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And He said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai. And the Angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. (Gen 16:5-9)
GOD keeps His promises, and when we act outside of the will of GOD, and do things on our own, we reap the consequences. GOD is faithful and will bless, not our actions, but the results when it fits with the promises He has made. He also chastises and corrects when we stray from His plan and path for us. There is a great lesson here about waiting on GOD and continuing to do His will while we wait, and not acting on our own. Our own actions and decisions, apart from the direction of GOD will lead to strife, trouble, and can mean the loss of our ministry. GOD always has the perfect plan, and there is no plan B, for His ways are perfect, even when we mess up our end of things.
We can take comfort in the strength we find in Him, and that He knows the end from the beginning, even when we fail Him. He has commanded us to minister to the hurting, disciple one another, and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and His finished and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary to this lost and dying world. We must be faithful to that call and commission so that those that don't know Him, may hear and believe and believing have life in His Name.
For GOD is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and the knowledge of the Truth. Jesus loves you and wants to establish a covenant relationship with you that is real and personal. He calls you to surrender to Him on His terms, turning away from your sIn and unrighteousness, that you may receive the righteousness of GOD in Him. Put your faith and trust in what He has already done on that cruel Roman cross and He will give you a brand new life of discipleship and fellowship with Him that is abundant and everlasting. Despite his mistakes, Abraham was still a child of GOD because of his faith, and GOD offers you the same Salvation.
In Christ,
Jefferson Sweet