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In 1935, Australia had a problem with beetles destroying the sugar cane crops. To get rid of the beetles, they brought in 100 frogs. The frogs took care of the beetles all right, but later Australia had 200 million frogs that were poisonous to other kinds of life. Frogs solved one problem but created a worse one. That also happened years ago, when Abram’s wife Sarah could not have children. Ten years after God promised Abram He would give him a son, and through the son, God would bless the world, his wife, Sarah, still had not given birth. So she decided to help God. She let Abram marry her servant, Hagar. That decision created unintended conflict. As soon as Hagar got pregnant, the two women fell out with each other. Sarah got angry with Abram and blamed him for the friction. Sarah then mistreated Hagar so badly that the woman ran away from home. She later came back and gave birth to her son, Ishmael. From Ishmael came 12 princes. They multiplied and still live in parts of the Middle East. Some are at odds with Israel, their stepbrothers. Much of that conflict is because Sarah and Abram did not wait for God to keep His promise. If we ignore God’s will as recorded in His word, or refuse to wait for His will to unfold, we too can expect unintended consequences.
