When I read this passage in Galatians, God opened my eyes to something. Galatians 4:21-23 reads, “Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? The scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of His promise.”

God has a large plan and many small plans in-between. Since God is God, why would we try to interfere with His plans. God promised Abraham a son. Man, Sarah and Abraham, tried to make God’s promise come true by Abraham sleeping with Hagar who was Sarah’s servant. The son that God promised to Abraham was to be had between him and Sarah (his freeborn wife).

When God gives you a promise, trust that He will deliver. He is not new at being God. He has been God forever, before time even existed. Due to that, why should we think that we know how to fulfill God’s plan better than God Himself? Look at the lives of Issac and Ishmael to see more clearly. God’s promise was for Abraham and Sarah to have Issac, not Ishmael. Ishmael was, I guess you could say, Sarah’s plan to fulfill God’s plan (a human attempt). Ishmael was a human attempt and Issac was God’s plan from the start. Ishmael ended up getting sent away, but Issac ended up being the father of Jacob (Israel) who needed up being the father of his 12 sons (the twelve tribes of Israel). From one of these twelve tribes (Judah) was where Jesus was born.

Jesus died on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven and now we can live in heaven. He is resurrected. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. God’s plan was not instant, but it still happened. The human attempt to fulfill God’s promise (Ishmael) ended up being sent away from Abraham and look at how that turned out.

Now that Jesus has died on the cross and is risen, we are free from the bondage of sin. Galatians 5:1 reads, “So Christ has truly set us free.” We are under grace. If we sin we can be forgiven.

When God gives you a promise, don’t stop and try to fulfill, let God do it in His time. Let God guide you and you just listen (that is our part). God knows what He is doing and what He wants.

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