GLEANINGS - GenesisSample

Was the birth of Ishmael a mistake or part of the plan of God?

Abram and Sarai decided to take matters into their own hands and solve the problem of barrenness, themselves.

Even though Abram and Sarai made a mistake, God knew it would happen and in some mysterious way even planned it because He plans everything; therefore, we should trust God and know that everything that happens is a part of His plan and happens for a reason.

Abram and Sarai think of Hagar as a slave, a foreigner, a possession, someone to be used, abused, mistreated, and neglected. But God looked upon her as a person. He knew her name. He spoke to her gently.

Hagar gives God a name. She says, “You are El Roi. The God who sees me.”

She has been mistreated and abused, but she recognizes that God does see all. Do you know that God sees you? It is one thing to know that He loves you and that He hears your prayers, but it is quite another to know that His eyes are upon you. He is watching you.

Ishmael was given a great promise, not only in the number of his descendants but also in that he was the first one in the Bible to be given his name before he was born. Ishmael means God will hear. God had a plan for him and his descendants. God doesn’t give a name if He doesn’t have a plan.

God could have allowed Hagar and her unborn child to die in the wilderness, but He didn’t allow it. God specifically intervened so that it wouldn’t happen.

God could have allowed Hagar to live, but to disappear from the life and household of Abraham and Sarah, but He didn’t allow that either.

Since Ishmael’s conception was because of sin and unbelief God could have erased him from the story, but God chose not to. This part of the story is God’s doing, not man’s doing. The Bible says that “God was with the boy as he grew up” (Genesis 21:20).

Even though Ishmael was sent away, God still accomplished his perfect plan through Abraham’s life. Even though Abraham and Sarah tried to force what God had promised, God’s good plan still triumphed. What God sets in motion cannot be thwarted. Ishmael’s life teaches us that we can be confident that God’s good and loving plans will come to pass.

Paul uses the story of Hagar as an allegory to distinguish law from grace (Galatians 4:21-31) Hagar the bondwoman is contrasted with Sarah the freewoman, and Ishmael “born after the flesh” with Isaac “born through promise”

God is able to turn our mess into a message.

APPLICATION QUESTION:

How does it make you feel knowing that God sees all that you do and all that you go through? Is it a terrifying thought or a liberating thought?

QUOTE:

God's plan will continue on God's schedule. A. W. Tozer

PRAYER:

Lord, I offer to You today my broken and messed up life and ask that You will make something beautiful out of it. Amen