Genesis 16:2 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 will obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Sarai could not believe God’s promise that she would bear a child and have descendants. So she resorted to a human solution: let her maid bear a son for her. The child born to the coupling of Abram and Hagar would be considered as hers. This is certainly understandable: she had been barren all her life and now she was well past child-bearing age. It would be humanly impossible. She could not believe in the God of the impossible.
Abram consented to her suggestion and went along with her in unbelief. The effects of this action remain with us even to this day, as the Arab descendants of Ishmael and the Jewish descendants of Isaac are still at war. There is a consequence for this lapse of faith on the part of Sarai and Abram. Even the great ”hero of faith” had his doubts.
We also have doubts mixed in with our faith at times. We are not always able to trust the Lord to be as good and faithful as we say He is. But God is always good and gracious, and He will absolutely continue to be faithful to His promises. The Lord did give them the promised son, Isaac. And so God gives us His own Promised Son, Jesus. God’s promise, grace, and blessing is true whether we believe it or doubt. Faith receives; doubt says, ”I don’t want it.” Either way God does it. Faith does not make it happen; doubt does not prevent it from happening.