“撒莱对亚伯兰说：‘耶和华使我不能生育，求你和我的使女同房，或者我可以因她得孩子。’” – 创 16:2
尝试控制我们自己的命运，是人之常情。无论是在商务、经济、或家庭的事务上，我们都想自己动手来促使计划成功；我们甚至会采用不择手段的捷径来谋事。
亚伯拉罕就是一个很好的例子，创世记16章记载了他灵命中一个最可悲的污点，我们看到这个向来对神有信心的人却做了缺乏信心的事。神似乎延迟了赐他们后裔的计划，于是亚伯拉罕和撒莱深感焦虑，他们准备好要自己动手了。他们想出一个促成神的应许的方案，他们实际上是尝试用自己的办法来解决问题，而不去信赖神所安排的时间。亚伯拉罕令人震惊地做了一件 不忠于妻子的事，与她的使女夏甲同房。
这条邪恶的捷径带来了深刻而持久的后患。夏甲怀了孕，而撒莱和夏甲很快便互相争竞，夏甲最终逃走了。
惟愿这个家庭悲剧能警告我们，切勿在道德上走捷径、妥协我们的原则、或者尝试扮演神的角色。我们庆幸，因为知道我们在与神同行时，衪的延迟永远不会是一个尽头 － 而因着衪的恩典，我们的失败也永远不会不可挽回。
祷告
父啊，当我们对你失去信心，尝试自己动手处理问题时，求你赦免。又求你帮助我们，学会去信靠你和你对我们一生的计划。奉耶稣之名祈求，阿们。
创世记 16:1-6
1亚伯兰的妻子撒莱不给他生儿女。撒莱有一个使女，名叫夏甲，是埃及人。
2撒莱对亚伯兰说：“耶和华使我不能生育，求你和我的使女同房，或者我可以因她得孩子。”亚伯兰听从了撒莱的话。
3于是亚伯兰的妻子撒莱将使女埃及人夏甲给了丈夫为妾，那时亚伯兰在迦南已经住了十年。
4亚伯兰与夏甲同房，夏甲就怀了孕。她见自己有孕，就小看她的主母。
5撒莱对亚伯兰说：“我因你受屈！我将我的使女放在你怀中，她见自己有了孕，就小看我。愿耶和华在你我中间判断。”
6亚伯兰对撒莱说：“使女在你手下，你可以随意待她。”撒莱苦待她，她就从撒莱面前逃走了。
No Shortcuts
“She said to Abram, ‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.’” – Genesis 16:2
It’s human nature to try to control our own destiny. We take matters into our own hands and make something happen—whether it be in business, finance, or family matters. We may even take ill-advised shortcuts to get there.
Abraham is a case in point. Genesis 16 records one of the darkest blots on his spiritual record. We see this man of faith acting without faith. Frustrated with the delay in God’s plan to give them a child, Abraham and Sarai take matters into their own hands. They devise a scheme for getting what God has promised them. In effect, they try to provide their own solution rather than trusting in God’s timing. In a startling act of unfaithfulness, Abraham sleeps with his wife’s servant Hagar.
This unholy shortcut brings deep and lasting trouble. Hagar becomes pregnant, and soon jealousy breaks out between Sarai and Hagar, and Hagar runs away.
May this tragedy warn us against taking moral shortcuts, compromising our principles, and trying to play God. It’s good to know that when we walk with God, his delays are never dead-ends—and that because of his grace, our failures are never final.
Prayer
Father, forgive us when we lose confidence in you and take matters into our own hands. Help us instead to trust in you and in your plan for our lives. In Jesus, Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
