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Genesis 16:2a 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.”

When my brother and I were young, we had a racing game called Mario Kart for our Nintendo 64 system, and we liked to find short-cut glitches that enabled us to skip ahead entire laps. Doing so eradicated all the uncertainty that usually accompanies a race, because when you’re so far ahead of the competition, you can just cruise-control your way to the finish. And that’s what I see Sarai trying to do here in Genesis 16. She’s tired of waiting on God, tired of being behind, tired of getting lapped by her pregnant neighbors while she’s stuck at the starting line. So when Abram puts his arm around her and says, “Sarai—God promised us children”, she jolts back and responds, “No Abram—God preventedus from children!” Her faith, like her womb, is barren at this point, so she’s looking for some glitch in providence, some shortcut to faith, because God’s plan hasn’t panned out.  

Christian, whenever you feel burned out like Sarai, remember Jesus. If He had taken a shortcut through His own Passion, there’d be no redemption for us.