ANGLICAN DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL FOR JANUARY 10, 2023 (GO BACK AND SUBMIT)
TOPIC : ” GO BACK AND SUBMIT”
Read: Genesis 16: 1-9(NKJV)
1. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no [children.] And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
2. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing [children.] Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
3. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
4. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5. Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong [be] upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me.”
6. So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid [is] in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7. Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
8. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9. The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
MESSAGE
The text shows that Sarai was barren and she requested Abram to go into Hagar to get children by her. When Hagar conceived she despised Sarai who ill-treated her and she ran away.
In Hagar’s attempt to justify the cause of her ordeal, she was made to understand that the way forward was for her to go back and submit to her mistress, Sarai.
If it were today, many of us would have advised Hagar to engage in violent prayers so that Sarai would die or give way for her to possess her possession in Abram’s Family.
A 7-day vigil with fasting would have possibly been recommended so that Sarai would be chased out. But God knows that Hagar was not justified in her conduct.
Be careful how you pass judgment, especially in issues that deal with marriages, and other internal issues like master-and-servant misunderstanding.
Please go back and submit and let peace reign. Humble yourself so that God will fulfil his purpose for you.
Do not destroy your future, marriage or career because of worthless ego.
If you have wronged your wife or husband, kindly go and make peace.
PRAYER: Gracious God, grant me the grace to initiate reconciliation where necessary in my family in Jesus’ name Amen.
The Anglican Communion is the fourth-largest Christian denomination. Founded in 1867 in London, England, the communion currently has 85 million members within the Church of England and other national and regional churches in full communion.
