Hagar conceives, and when she knows she is pregnant, she begins to despise her mistress. The human plan produces human consequences: the power dynamic between Sarai and Hagar immediately inverts. The slave who was a tool of Sarai's plan becomes a rival to Sarai's status. Hagar's contempt is understandable — she has done what Sarai could not — but it disrupts the household and creates the conflict that will not be resolved until Genesis 21. The plan that was meant to produce an heir has produced a crisis instead. Proverbs 30:21–23 lists among things that make the earth tremble: a servant who displaces her mistress. The household dynamics Sarai set in motion are now working against her. The application: plans that route around the covenant path rarely resolve the problem they were designed to solve; they typically create additional problems that were not anticipated. Identify the 'Hagar' of a current plan — the unintended consequence that the workaround is producing.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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