Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. (Genesis 16:1-2)

What a mess we can create when we take matters into our own hands.  Many others can get hurt when we choose a HAGAR instead of waiting on God. We must be so careful to not set our eyes on what was never intended for us.

Sarai made so many crucial mistakes in this story. I would encourage you to go re-read the entire story of Sarai, Abram, and Hagar in Genesis 16.

I think the most heart-wrenching thing we miss is the misuse of a woman named Hagar. She was Sarai’s answer to a dream God had not yet chosen to fulfill. Hagar in a sense became a casualty of Sarai’s desperation. This one decision created a domino effect that left a mark of pain on many.

This can also happen to us. We can misuse people solely to get the end result we desire. This is not God’s way at all. We tend to see people for what they can do for us rather than just admiring them for who Christ is in them. God may use people to get you where you need to be but He will not allow others to be the answer to our dream. He, alone, is that answer. He holds every key to your destiny doors.

Verse 3 tells us “Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. It is amazing how far into sin we will walk to fulfill a demand in our hearts. Lines become blurred very quickly when our heart sets itself on a thing.

All kinds of poor decisions are made when we fail to accept God’s current plan and wait on Him to give direction. We even get mad at our Hagar when it’s all said and done although it was our decision that got us in the mess in the first place.

Let me put this in perspective in case all of these years you (like me) missed it. Sarai never asked Hagar if she would be okay with this plan. She never considered the effect on her at all and Hagar never had the option, in this culture, to say, “No.” For that, her entire life was about to change, even ruined.

Sarai told her husband to sleep with her maid and he did. Sarai was after something she could not birth herself. This was not consensual friends. This was rape. Hagar was taken.  Just like with David and Bathsheba we see an absolute abuse of power. Hagar was a woman merely used to conceive a child. She was not seen as worthy or valuable. She was merely treated as property.

If not careful, we too can make these kinds of mistakes when we get too desperate. Impatience and even jealousy of others can lead us into jaded thinking that grabs hold of what God is doing in others and causes us to claim it as our own. Often, we may see some abuse of power that tries to control a situation even with religious words. This leads to major trust issues and illegitimate ministries…meaning God did not appoint this to you, you appointed this to you.

When we decide to take a Hagar we begin to blur the lines of right and wrong. We have a b-line for a certain target and often do not stop long enough to think things through. We act rashly and without wisdom to foresee the consequences which will be long-lasting. We will use and abuse people to get what we want rather than waiting on God to reveal His plan for us. This causes spiritual rape, usury, and the possible abortion of one’s destiny.

Listen intently to the below rationale from Sarai:

“…perhaps I shall obtain children by her.”

Never was Hagar’s child going to be hers. What skewed thinking desperation can bring. God already had a plan in place. He is faithful to fulfill it. But Sarai took Hagar.

If we look at this lesson through Kingdom eyes, we must understand the fallacy of taking a Hagar. When we do this, we operate as a thief with no regard to others. At this moment we are trying to fulfill our own plans by using the womb of others.

There are certainly times when God merges paths to work in collaboration. But this must be a revelation of God to all parties.

We can trust God in His perfect timing without allowing the enemy to lower us to tactics not becoming a royal priest. Integrity, honor, accountability, and righteousness must always remain intact.

You and I do not need to take a Hagar. Our inheritance and the seed appointed to us are both secure in Christ Jesus.