Do I Sometimes Take Shortcuts Waiting For God?

Our small group has began yet another workbook on life's lessons learned from ladies of the Bible. This week's lady was Hagar. She was a maid servant for Abraham and Sarah. As we know God had promised Abraham that he would give him a heir and he would have many descendants. But several years went by and Sarah and Abraham did not have a child. Sarah particularly became impatient and decided to take matters into her own hands! She gave up on God's timing and decided to take a shortcut to give Abraham his son. She wanted Abraham to conceive a child with her maid servant, Hagar. Abraham did not give the decision to God at all.....he just did what Sarah had asked him to do.....apparently his faith was no greater than Sarah's. Then there was Hagar, who apparently had NO choice in the matter. She was bound to do what her mistress asked of her. So what could Hagar's feelings in all this have been?? Could she have felt "used" possibly? Did this cause resentment?
Shortly after Hagar became pregnant, Sarah and her began to have problems. Sarah saw Hagar more as a rival than a bond wife, and Hagar was proud of the fact she was carrying Abraham's child. Sarah began to treat Hagar so badly that she fled into the wilderness. God Came to Hagar in the wilderness and asked her to return to Sarah. Hagar obeyed God and returned. Shortly thereafter she gave birth to Abraham's son, Ishmael. Still years went by before Sarah finally did conceive and had Abraham's son, Isaac. When Ishmael was about 16, the friction grew worse in the family. Ishmael no doubt resented the favored son, Isaac. Sarah once again told Abraham she wanted to send Ishmael and Hagar away. This time Abraham did seek God's advise and God advised him to do as Sarah asked. So he handed Hagar a jug of water and sent her and her son away. Again one must wonder what Ishmael and Hagar felt at this time. In these times, such favortism was common practice with wives and maidservants, but it would seem harsh to us today to be sent away by one's own father. While in the wilderness, the water ran out and Ishmael and Hagar felt hopeless and felt sure they would die. They began to cry and God heard and saw their tears and led them to a well. He promised Hagar that he would make a great nation from Ishmael also.
So what can I learn from Sarah and Hagar in this story? First of all, when God has promised to make all things work for good and he has promised to take care of my every need....I need to LISTEN!!!! God's timing is NOT mine!! But God ALWAYS knows best. Taking shortcuts, as Sarah and Abraham did only leads to disaster. Relationships were destroyed and people were hurt in many ways. How many times has that happened in our own lives?? Too many I dare say. Human beings have been sooo impatient since the beginning of time...beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden. They could not wait to eat of the forbidden fruit. They took the shortcut also and did as THEY chose...not following God's will. Sarah was no different....she could wait NO longer..she would "fix" the problem herself! Both of these stories, as well as many others in the Bible, had bad consequences to face because of the bad choices and "shortcuts" they made. God allowed them all to suffer the consequences but always allowed the situations to turn around to a positive when faith in him was restored. In Hagar we are reminded that it is often in our "valleys" that we meet God and not on the "mountain tops" of our lives. We need to hear from God and listen for him in the "valleys" and be reassurred that he sees our situations and NEVER leaves us. I know there are times in my life I try to "take over" and control situations. I want to "fix" things myself....because that is what I have always done. I NEED to remember that God is in control. I NEED to trust his promises for me and I NEED to have faith that all will work out....in HIS time, not mine.