We are told to trust God. Let Him handle situations even when His timing takes longer than we would like. But we tend to be impatient. I know I am. Many times I’ve prayed about things and supposedly left it up to God, but then when He’s not moving fast enough I get tired of waiting and take matters into my own hands. That is what Sarai does in this Genesis passage. She was too old to have children so she gave her husband to her slave so that they could have a child. She knew this wasn’t God’s way and that He had promised Abram offspring but she took matters into her own hands.
“And Sarai said to Abram, ‘Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.” (Genesis 16:2-4 ESV)
Did you notice the phrase that stated, “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai?” Not only did Sarai get impatient, but Abram went along with it. Neither of them were strong against temptation. To the contrary, Jesus comes up against Satan himself, but does not give in to temptation.
“The devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.’ And the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in the a moment of time, and said to Him, ‘to You I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then will worship me, it will all be Yours.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” And he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You, to guard You and on their hands they will bear You up, lest you strike Your foot against a stone.” And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, You shall not put the Lord Your God to the test.‘ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:3-13 ESV)
Sarai and Abram believed God but didn’t really trust He would do what He said. They felt that God needed their help to keep the promise. On the other hand, Jesus was confronted by Satan with his temptations and his lies but responded by stating the word of God and not giving in.
Lord,
Help us to follow Jesus’s example of standing strong and speaking Your word to fight off the temptations that come our way. You don’t need our help to make things in our lives come to pass. We just need to be still and know.
Kellie
Sixty-six books in a year 
Your insight here is just what I needed to read today. Waiting is the toughest lesson to learn. I’m convinced that the hardest tests and temptations are related to waiting for God’s timing and deliverance and wrestling through our surrender to His understanding over our own. This is a test I’m still learning to pass. Thank you for your words of encouragement that all I need to do is be still and let Him work.