Husband, Be a Leader!

Genesis 16:2: "So she (Sarai) said to Abram, 'The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.' Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, 'You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.'"

What a illustrative story for husbands is found in the above passage. Previously, Abram had been promised offspring by God directly (Genesis 13:15-16; 12:2; 15:4-5,16-18). Yet, after ten years had elapsed (he was 85 now), Abram's wife became disillusioned at the thought of no children. I'm sure that Abram discussed with Sarai on many prior occasions God's promise of children to the couple; this is likely why she faulted the LORD for her lack of bearing a child. Sarai exclaimed, "The LORD has kept me from having children"; so, in a desperate attempt to have SOMEBODY carry on the family name, she gave her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, to Abram to produce an heir. Abram should have stopped this immediately, knowing that God had made a promise and would be true to His Word! Instead, Abram capitulated to Sarai's suggestion and thus was not the spiritual leader that he needed to be in his family. Notice that his wife would come to resent her husband for not taking the place of spiritual leader. She said, "you are responsible for the wrong I am suffering." Interestingly, God would delay the birth of their promised son, Isaac, by another 14 years.

Men need to understand their God-ordained place of being spiritual leaders in the home, and ladies should respect this calling through obedience to their husbands. Of course, this position of leadership does not mean that men have more intrinsic value than their wives; it is a functional role ordained to men to model the ultimate marriage between God (the husband) and His bride, the Church. With this calling of spiritual leader comes the expectation that men will lead their families toward Godliness. Men need to be submitted to Christ in all things, so that by their leadership, they can direct their families toward the blessings of God that come through obedience to the LORD!