But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.” [Genesis 17:19 (NLT)]
In what’s known as the Abrahamic covenant, God promised Abram (later called Abraham) that he would found a great nation and that through him all nations would be blessed. After receiving God’s promise, Abraham departed Haran, arrived in Canaan, went to Egypt to escape a famine, returned to Bethel, separated from Lot, and rescued him from King Kedorlaomer. In those ten years, however, despite God’s promise, Abraham’s wife Sarai (later known as Sarah) had not become pregnant. When he grew despondent that he was without an heir, God repeated his promise of a son through Sarah and reassured Abraham of as many descendants as there were stars in the sky.
Nevertheless, presuming to know God’s intentions, Sarah blamed the Lord for preventing her from pregnancy! Assuming she knew better than God how and when to fulfill His promise of descendants, she offered her Egyptian servant Hagar as a substitute wife to Abraham. Giving no thought to God’s power or promises, the man listened to his wife rather than God and slept with Hagar. Neither Abraham not Sarah sought God’s advice on the matter and, by second-guessing God, theirs is a perfect example of walking by sight rather than faith!
Although Sarah got what she wanted—a pregnant Hagar—she wasn’t happy. After being given to Abraham as a wife, Hagar didn’t maintain the attitude of a servant and became proud of her pregnancy and disrespectful of her mistress. Although Sarah bore as much responsibility as her husband for the discord in their home, she blamed Abraham for her misery. Jealous and angry, she treated Hagar harshly and Abraham refused to become involved in the women’s conflict. The pregnant Hagar fled from her cruel mistress but later returned to give birth to Abraham’s son, Ishmael. Fourteen years after Ishmael’s birth (and twenty-five years after God’s first promise), Sarah gave birth to the promised son, Isaac, but his birth did not bring harmony to the household. Until then, Ishmael was Abraham’s sole heir but he was displaced when Sarah gave birth to a son. Nevertheless, seeing the Ishmael’s presence as a threat, Sarah demanded that Abraham send away both Hagar and her child. Abraham again listened to his wife and sent them into the wilderness, presumably to die.
When their faith wavered, Sarah and Abraham chose to trust their own timing and method rather than God and His plan. Free will, however, comes with consequences and the consequences from their actions continue to impact the world today. Instead of Sarah versus Hagar or Isaac versus Ishmael, it’s now Jews versus Arabs in the Middle East. Both Jews and Arabs trace their lineage back to Abraham—one through Isaac and the other through Ishmael. But, rather than brothers, they are archrivals!
In God’s covenants with Abraham, the land of Canaan was granted as an everlasting possession to his descendants. While the Hebrew Scriptures hold that Isaac is the son of God’s promise to Abraham, the Qur’an (“received” by Muhammad in 604 AD) holds that Ishmael is the son of the promise and that it was the beloved Ishmael (not Isaac) who Abraham almost sacrificed. The war that began last October when Hamas attacked Jews within Israel’s border is just the most recent chapter in their centuries old conflict.
When it comes to helping ourselves, God has nothing against hard work. The problem comes when we think God needs our help to accomplish His divine purpose on our timetable rather than His. The story of Abraham, Sarah, and their boys illustrates what happens when people choose to find their own worldly solutions to God’s heavenly purpose! As Charles Spurgeon wisely said, “Anything other than God’s plan carried out in God’s way and in God’s timing amounts to self-reliance.” God’s timing is as important as His will and whenever we choose to help ourselves by taking a detour from the clear will of God, trouble is waiting!
As God’s child advances spiritually he shall discover that the Lord’s time is as important as the Lord’s will. Do not rashly beget an Ishmael lest he become the greatest enemy to Isaac. [Watchman Nee]
Things went downhill for Israel in the centuries following their arrival in Egypt. Life turned bad when Pharaoh’s once welcome guests became Pharaoh’s oppressed slaves who labored in his fields or made bricks for his building projects. Hearing their cry for relief, God called Moses to lead His children out of captivity. Although He warned Moses that Pharaoh would not let his labor force depart easily, God didn’t tell him that Israel’s life would go from bad to worse before they left Egypt.
Although he was a man of faith, my father was not a man of laughter, tenderness, affection, or patience. When I was a child, my understanding of fear of the Lord was much like the fear I had of my father—fear that I never could be pretty, smart, talented, or good enough to earn either his or God’s love. Try as I might, I always seemed to fall short.
Jesus told two parables about persistence. In the first, a man went to his neighbor’s home at midnight. Waking him, he asked for three loaves of bread because a traveler just arrived and he had no food for his hungry guest. Initially, the neighbor refused to open the door but, after tiring of the man’s persistent knocking, he finally gave him the bread. In the second parable, a widow kept badgering a corrupt judge with her appeals for justice against a man who has harmed her. Finally, worn down by her persistent pleas, the exasperated judge granted her request.
While reading about David and Goliath, I realized that it’s not just our seniors who can be undervalued or overlooked. It’s as wrong to disregard the youth in our midst as it is to discount the old. Likewise, just as some seniors may underestimate their gifts, the same could be said for those who still count the years rather than the decades! Age is just a number to God—He’s more interested in willing hearts than number of years!
English philosopher Francis Bacon defined “old age” as “always 15 years older than I am.” He would have liked it here in southwest Florida because there always seems to be someone fifteen years older. Nevertheless, having recently celebrated my 77th birthday, it’s getting increasingly hard to find them! While I enjoy being told I look good, I don’t like hearing the “for your age!” ending that sentence! Hearing that qualified compliment, being called “Hon” or “Sweetie” by a waitperson or nurse less than half my age, or people assuming my grey hair means I’m computer inept and/or hard of hearing remind me of the subtle ageism in today’s society.
Devotions of the Heart 