Read: Genesis 18:1-15; 21:1-3 At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. (18:14) Sarah knew the pain of unmet longing. For years, she had hoped for a child, only to be met with disappointment again and again. By the time these strangers came for a visit in the desert, Sarah was old enough to have lost all hope of childbearing. Of course she laughed when these men declared …

Read: Genesis 16:6-14 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing.” (v. 13) Nobody asked the handmaid. Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian slave, had no choices. She did not choose to cast her lot with Abram’s growing band of wanderers, to have Abram’s child, or to become the pawn that “made” God’s promise come true. As far as power goes, this slave girl was at the bottom of the heap. Hagar’s lack …

Read: Genesis 16:1-5 Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. (v. 2) Often, when we get to this part of the story, we talk about Sarai’s lack of faith. She becomes a cautionary tale warning people against not trusting God’s timing. However, I think she deserves a bit more credit. She had lived in the wilderness for many years. Not only had she wandered through the desert for decades, but she also experienced the personal wilderness (and …

Read: Genesis 12:1-9 And Abram took Sarai his wife . . . and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. (v. 5) Nobody asked the wife. Abram, later to become Abraham, the great patriarch of the Old Testament, is celebrated as a man of great faith. However, his wife, Sarai (later called Sarah), also left her people to wander through the wilderness for the rest of her life. We are told that Abram heard the voice of …

Read: Genesis 3:9-24 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (v. 20) We know Eve’s story: she was deceived by the serpent, chose to eat of the fruit, and gave some to Adam. Then they were driven out of the garden to wander in a wilderness of pain and struggle. Eve suddenly experienced broken relationships—with God, with her husband, with the land, and even with her own body. We can look at …

Read: Psalm 68:4-10 . . . when you marched through the wilderness, the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain . . . (vv. 7-8) God’s people often find themselves on a journey. Adam and Eve left the safety of Eden’s enclosure for the wild world, Abraham and Sarah were nomads in the desert, and the people of Israel wandered for forty years after their rescue from Egypt. Jesus’ life and ministry was a meandering one as well, as his …