COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 42 - THE BEST LAID SCHEMES OF MICE AND MEN

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I cannot think of the next chapter in the life of Abram and Sarai without considering the line of Robert Burn's  Scottish poem called "To A Mouse."   One quote is rendered:  "the best-laid schemes of mice an' men gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy!"  

The author is pondering how the little mouse's winter house is all in ruins because of being hit by a plough.  He thinks of how the mouse carefully planned ahead for winter and worked so hard to make such a nice little nest, which the plough just goes right over and destroys in an instant.  Then he considers the act of men making plans and how often, no matter how well laid-out they are; they are destroyed by the unexpected or get terribly off course and messed up along the way.  He thinks how mice at least live in the present moment where men are always looking forward or backward, trying to fix things they have no control over.  

Often when considering this I've thought Robert Burns might have had the same problem as Abram and Sarai with his outlook on life.  He might not have invited God into all the big, life-changing decisions.  Perhaps if the little mouse had consulted God on where to build his nest the plough would not have happened.  There are also certain places that men would not go - had they consulted God about their future.  It is only human to forget this from time to time, and Abram and Sarai were just that - only human.

You would think after all the trouble that God went to in confirming the

covenant with Abram that he would be completely reassured of God’s promises and just begin to wait patiently to see it all come to pass.

Not so.  Abram was inside of time and God was outside of time and their perspective on the passing of time was completely different.  God was and always is looking at the perfect clock and waiting on the perfect time for everything that evolves in his plan for mankind.  Abram was inside of time worried that things were not happening fast enough. 

 He believed; of course he did!  He believed every word that God spoke to him, but he probably kept wondering if maybe he missed some little instruction or something more.  Nothing was happening and he was getting to be old.  Maybe God had told him something to do that he had forgotten.   Those voices that often pop up in the heads of humans to add to confusing times kept repeating themselves.

Perhaps it was up to him.  Perhaps he needed to think of a way to bring God’s will about in a timely manner.  Abram, like all humans before him and after him, began to rationalize about things that were supernatural in nature and tried to make them happen in man’s way instead of waiting on God’s way.  All the time Abram was pondering this; but still he kept impatiently waiting.

Abram might have waited a lot longer and been a lot more patient if Sarai had not been involved.  He had shared the news of the covenant with her and she had believed it too.  She pondered the timing of things just like Abram.  She, after all, WAS a big part of this picture and she was getting older, much older. 

She had heard Abram tell the stories of the covenant over and over.  It was like a dream that they shared together, but why wasn’t it happening?  Sarai must have kept asking herself what was so wrong in her that she could not conceive a son to grant the greatest wish of her husband.  She was deeply troubled in her waiting.  It seemed that her destiny had been put on hold forever.  Why?  Sarah was always wondering why.  She wasn’t one to sit and mope and she did not like this constant never-ending waiting. 

She probably kept telling herself over and over again that she had so much to be thankful for.  She should just be patient, but everything was just taking way too long. 

Was there a sin within her holding this miracle back; too much ingratitude, too much pride?  Not enough humility?  Was she too selfish?  If it was her, what could she do about it?  Was there a way she could be less selfish and give a son to Abram?  Sometimes we look at ourselves and receive doubt instead of looking at God and finding hope.

She pondered this night and day for a long time.  Question after question haunted her thoughts as she spent her hours of waiting.  She was now well past the age of childbearing.  Maybe God was trying to make her think of another way to accomplish this?  Was He?  Anyway – what else was there to do? 

Sarai looked around and glimpsed her beautiful young handmaiden going about her daily chores.  How she wished to be young and healthy again, like her.  Envy has been the fall of many a great woman.  Hagar had been a good servant so far.  She had actually chosen to come with Sarai and Abram from the house of Pharaoh.  She had been one of Pharaoh’s daughters from a concubine.  She had so admired Sarai that she had said as a very young girl “Better to live as a servant in the house of Sarai and Abram than to be a royal princess in the house of Pharaoh,”  Her father had quickly granted her request and sent her off to be Sarai’s handmaiden.  

Since Hagar had chosen her position in life, and been a good servant to her, Sarai felt she could trust her with anything.  The girl had a simplicity about her and she looked up to Sarai and mimicked her every move.  It was very flattering.  Flattery has also been the downfall of many a great woman.  She would always be loyal, wouldn’t she?  She listened when Sarai spoke and took in all of the wisdom she had gained in her years of living in Abram’s tents.   Hagar had learned a lot from Sarai.

The more Sarai pondered this the more Sarai wondered if the answer to

her troubles was living and breathing right inside her own tent.  Perhaps she could trust Hagar to bear a son for her and Abram.  It displeased Sarai to think of Abram with another woman, but she might be able to bear that just once in order to give him the son of his desire.  Surely he would only respect her more for being so unselfish in fulfilling his desires?  Many women thought nothing of this.  

Of course, it would mean that Hagar would have to be considered a second wife.  Sarai would still be the first and honored wife, but Hagar would be taken as a second wife in order to give the family name to her son.  She would be more honored in the household than she was now, but she would still be under Sarai’s charge and she would still tend to Sarai’s needs.  Maybe it meant not much would change. 

Sarai realized she might have come up with a way to heal the only part of her marriage that suffered – the fact that she was childless.  She began to have visions of her tending to a son that Abram loved and Hagar being humble and kind in letting her do so.  Like Abram, she began to rationalize the plans of God instead of waiting to see what God would bring about.  

The scriptures never mention once that Sarai consulted God in this; and that is because SHE DID NOT.  She had become so comfortable in her blessings from God that she just took for granted that He would approve of her plan.  Isn't that the most human thing you have ever known?  

She made a horrible mistake in thinking that this was a question that she had the right to answer. 

It wasn’t.  

Haven’t we all been guilty of the same?  

We go right on making huge life changing decisions on our own because we think we have come up with a brilliant plan and we never consult God who knows how un-brilliant some of our plans can turn out to be.

Sarai talked to Abram and Abram agreed to the plan.  God was there all the time.  He was waiting too.  As He waited they proceded with the plan they had devised on their own.  God will let this happen if you chose to create your own trap.  Sometimes the only learning tools that work are the tools created by our own mistakes.  God is graceful, loving and kind.  He did not leave them or forsake them when they left Him out of the equation.  He simply kept loving them and let them suffer the consequences of their own mistake.  They just assumed that God would be in agreement.  Isn’t that such a human trait? 

 It wasn’t long before Hagar was with child and the pleasant tents of Abram began to take on a new and altogether different atmosphere.