Sin Has Unintended Consequences

After the dramatic covenant ceremony where God pledged Himself to fulfill His promises to Abram, it is disappointing to read in the next chapter, Genesis 16, that Abram and Sarai came up with a plan to shortcut God's promised blessing of a child. As is always the case, sin leads to unintended consequences. Instead of faithfully leading his family, Abram stumbled in just the same way that Adam did in the Garden of Eden, and there are several parallels with that sad incident. Abram listened to Sarai instead of asking God what to do, violated his one-flesh union with his wife, and tried to separate himself from the problem when Sarai blamed him for the result of her idea! They both took advantage of Hagar, who had no say in the matter. Why would we even want to look at this mess? It underlines the fact that no one is counted righteous on their own merit; God is gracious to despicable sinners - like you and me!